A.N.- Hello, everyone! Here is chapter...um 10...yeah this is chapter 10. Lol! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the poem below. The poem is Depression by NA (Non applicable); (IDK who it's by). This was suggested to me by Madagascargirl. (Thanks, MG! ^^)

Chapter 10: Snakebite Fever

(Nobody's POV)

"Trixy. Trixy, wake up." Skippsy says shaking Trixy's shoulder, but it is to no avail. Trixy is out-cold. Skippsy sighs and sits back on her heels. "We need to move away from here; especially since there's rattlers."

"Wait! What about Trixy?" Rachel asks. Skippsy shrugs and looks at Marissa for an answer.

"We won't know much on her condition until she wakes up...if she wakes at all that is." Marissa says. Skippsy waddles up behind her gives her a small slap to the back of the head.

"No, she WILL wake up. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. She will wake up." Skippsy says. Marissa doesn't reply. "Anyway, Alejandro, can you get Trixy?" he nods and gently lifts the youngest recruit.

"So, where are we going?" he asks.

"No clue. All I know is away from here." Marissa looks at the map that they had been arguing over earlier.

"It would appear, Skippsy, that there's a safe-looking place not too far from here." Marissa says. Skippsy nods.

"Alright, lead away." Marissa begins to waddle towards the place that she had noted on the map. The others follow her there.

(Trixy's POV)

-Nightmare-

Everything goes dark. Then suddenly I find myself back in the Dallas Zoo. I am not alone. Private is standing by side. We are rushing around because of something. Suddenly I'm in a box. "Trixy!" Private exclaims.

"Private! Where'd you go?"I exclaim once again.

"I think we're in transfah crates!"

"What! Why would we be in crates?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"I don't know!"

"O–Kay."

"Private?"

"Yes?"

"Don't stop talking to me."

"I won't."

"Great."

"May I ask why?"

"As long as you're talking, I know that you're still here." there is no reply. I feel my crate being lifted."Private?" I call. " Private!" I call a bit more urgently. There is still no reply. I am alone. Suddenly everything goes black again. I am standing alone in the middle of nothing. Pictures of memories start to flash by. I grip my head. All of those memories...those painful and happy memories. They hurt. I scream.

Depression is here everyday

And it never goes away

Go away! I yell into the dark

As if someone is there

I feel as if I'm a prisoner

In the dungeon's lair

I am now standing by a dark pit. I look down into it. I see a red hat along with several pairs of red eyes. I upon some strange impulse leap down into the pit. I am surrounded by hundreds of mutant badgers; half of which are grouped around something small and black and white. It is Private. "PRIVATE!" I scream. He doesn't hear me. The badgers move in on him. I can not move to help him. "PRIVATE!" he still does not hear me, but a badger does. It takes one look at me and then ignores me. They move closer in.

And as always no one cares

Do I dare?

Dare to care about anyone but me?

Could it be,

Someone there?

Someone there to care?

No, just an image

That's the way it will always be

I once again am surrounded by nothingness. Alone. Those images of the past are back. They are flashing by even faster and faster and faster. Too fast now to make out details. I try to run from them. But I can't move. Suddenly the vanish. I am now falling. Falling through those memories. Each one I fall through brings tears. They sting. The memories sting. The make me cry out. I just want them to end. To stop. For this nightmare to be over. But it goes on and on and on and on. Everything then goes white. A bright white. A blinding white.

No matter how hard I try

I just want to get by

I go through life day by day

I thought pain was supposed

To go away with time

But it's not

It's still here

Here with the fear

Fear that I will get hurt more

-End Nightmare-

(Nobody's POV)

Marissa, Rachel, Alejandro, and Skippsy are sitting around a fire. They do not talk. They are each completely absorbed in their own thoughts. Suddenly a scream shatters those thoughts. "PRIVATE!" They each whip around and look at the sleeping recruit. She is turning her head back and forth wildly. In an instant Skippsy and Marissa are at her side.

"Marissa, analysis!" Skippsy orders.

"She must be having a nightmare. It's probably from the fever from how she is fighting the snake venom." Marissa replies.

"Well, what are we supposed to do about it?"

"Make sure she doesn't hurt herself. From where she is fighting the venom the senses that typically shut down her movement during a dream aren't functioning as they should." Skippsy nods.

"No, Priavte!" Trixy screams again.

"Is there a way to help end the nightmare? Like should we try waking her?"

"No! Do not try to wake her. Who knows what that would do to her during this. I don't know of anything we can do." Marissa says. They both just look at the restless sleeper. Then Skippsy suddenly gets an idea. She slides over to Trixy's backpack and reaches down into it. She pulls out a framed picture. She looks at it. In the picture are two penguins; one of which is Trixy, the other is an unknown male.

"Hey, do you think this could help?" Skippsy shows the photograph to Marissa. Marissa shrugs.

"Well, if it doesn't help, it couldn't hurt." Skippsy nods and puts the picture in the sleeping Trixy's flipper. Trixy calms down a bit in her dream. Marissa and Skippsy smile and go back to the fire.

(Nobody's POV)

Trixy's eyes open. She sits up panting. The sleeping bag and pillow round her are soaking wet with sweat. The looks around confused. "Where am I?" she mummers quietly, though it was still loud enough for Skippsy and Marissa to hear. They look back at her and see that she is sitting up. They run over to her.

"Trixy! You're back!" Skippsy says. She then looks at Marissa. "Told you so." Trixy looks at them confused.

"Um, where exactly did I go?" Skippsy laughs.

"Nowhere. But you did give us quite a scare. We thought we had lost you." Marissa looks closely at Trixy circling around her.

"Um, what are you doing?"

"I'm checking to see if by chance you are a honey badger in a penguin costume." Marissa states matter-of-factly. Trixy looks at Marissa as if she had grown a second head.

"What are you talking about, Marissa? You aren't making any sense at all."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Um, a little bit I think. I remembah getting attacked by something, falling to the ground, Marissa making me chew flower petals, and then losing consciousness. And then the nightmares." Tixy shudders. "Those horrible nightmares." She then notices the picture in her right flipper. She smiles and hugs it.

"I found that in your pack and when you were tossing in your sleep I gave it to you." Skippsy says. Trixy looks at her.

"Thank you. I've been wondering where this picture had gone. It's one of my favorites." Skippsy nods. Rachel and Alejandro then wake up and notice that Trixy is conscious.

"Trixy! You're okay!" Rachel exclaims. She grabs Trixy into a hug. Trixy coughs.

"Ugh. Rachel, loosen your grip, please! You're crushing me!"

"Oh, sorry." Rachel releases Trixy. "So is she okay? No memory loss or anything?" Marissa shrugs.

"Trixy. What is your name?" Skippsy asks.

"Trixy." Trixy replies.

"What's your rank?"

"Private."

"What is the name of your most secret crush?"

"Private." she then thinks for a moment. "Private as in classified, not as in Private." she adds sheepishly. "I mean, because that would be silly since I'm dating Samuel, whom I do love..." Skippsy puts up a flipper for her to stop.

"Say no more, Trixy, we get it." She turns to the others. "She's fine." Rachel and Alejandro sigh in relief.

"Well, that's great! When are we going to Peru?" Rachel asks.

"I suppose we can go ahead that way. Do you think you're able to travel again, Trixy?"

"I think so." Trixy replies. Skippsy nods.

"If you get too tired, just tell one of us, okay?" Trixy nods. "Spectacular, let's go to Peru, everyone."