Yes, chapter five. It is being brought fairly early because I really, really wanna type this chapter because this is the one where- oh well, you'll see. Read and review.
The blonde could feel a hand against his shoulder, shaking him, almost violently. His eyes shot open almost immediately.
"What the-!" he was cut off when the hand went over his mouth. He looked to who was controlling the hand and could see that it was Tea. Tristen sat behind her, and Yugi was still underneath the window, but not asleep. Joey looked confusedly at the other three. Tea pressed a finger over her lips, indicating 'shh'. Joey nodded. He sat up, and Tea removed her hand.
"Hello! Is anyone out there!" Came a voice from outside the building. Joey could recognize it to be one of the scientists from the trip.
"Why are we being quiet?" Joey whispered. Tea shook her head with a stern look on her face. In other words, 'Shhhhh!' Joey was silent.
"Hello? Please? Somebody! I need help! My assistant is fatally bitten!" the group of teens continued to be dead silent. The four heard the scientist gasp. "A building!"
The door to the building creaked open, and there a scientist stood. A female one! She stepped forward.
"Oh my god! You four teens! From the tour!" She exclaimed. She ran to them. The kids were still dead silent.
What Joey wondered was: Why?
"Please! You must help me! My assistant got bit, and now he's suffering from a high fever! He said he didn't know what kind of snake bit him, but it must have been a rattle snake!" The four exchanged glances, then stood.
"Where is he?" Joey asked, a plain look on his face.
"Just nearby in a small clearing with some garter snakes," she said. Joey nodded. He turned to his friends.
"Stay here you guys, be back quickly," he stepped out of the building. Tea looked at the scientist warily.
"Miss, I have some questions... our friend..." she trailed off. The scientist looked at her, but listened.
Joey ran into the forest, the exact direction he remembered the small clearing was. He ran into the clearing... and what he saw made the hairs on the back of his neck stick up... his eyes grow wide with terror... and his heart wrench with fear.
There, before him, lay the scientist's assistant. He was covered in snakes. They were eating his flesh. Joey stepped back, watching as the serpents devour the man before him.
Suddenly, a question popped into the blonde's head: 'Snakes don't eat humans... do they?'
The question was pretty much answered when the snakes turned his direction, and left the body. Which was now bones. Crimson-dyed bones. The blonde's eyes grew to saucers, and he stepped back. The snakes advanced toward him, hissing loudly, bearing their bloody fangs. This made Joey's heart leap with fear. Why was it, that everything seemed to turn on him all of a sudden?
The snakes leapt at him, so the teen turned and ran.
So much for saving the assistant.
Joey ran until he finally got back to the building. When he looked behind himself, the snakes were gone. He ran into the building, panting heavily.
"Guys... I got some bad news!" the scientist, and the other three looked up at him. He walked over and sat down.
"I'm sorry, miss scientist, but... you're assistant..." the scientist nodded, looking down.
"I had a feeling it would happen," Joey blinked, and sweatdropped.
"Er... no... he was... eaten by a bunch of snakes..." Joey said. Tea's eyes filled with horror while looking at the blonde.
"Joey, are you sure! Snakes don't eat humans!"
"She's right, snakes may bite, but they'd never eat someone," the scientist added.
"No, I'm sure. I'm positive,"
"Well, I'm sure it may seem that way. You probably went and saw that my assistant was maybe already dead and had bites in him or something... but I assure you, the snakes would not do that," the scientist stated.
"Uh... no, huh-uh... I went and kinda... saw the snakes eat him," Joey replied.
"What?" The scientist replied, looking extremely confused.
"The snakes... I went into the clearing, and the snakes were eating him, when they slithered off and came after me, all that was left was the friggin' skeleton with blood-red bones! Those snakes are nasty little things! They're either hell-bent or... on some kinda crack!" Joey exclaimed. The scientist stared at Joey, baffled.
"But that just doesn't add up... but... then again... no one has ever... studied these reptiles..." the scientist trailed off.
"Studied them? Then why do they have these tours? And why is there a building here?" Tea asked. The scientist nodded.
"Right. It's probably time to tell you a little about this place... seeming you don't know much about it," the scientist said.
"Tch, I'll say..." Joey mumbled.
"Okay, about fifty years ago, when they first started Reptile Cove, the place was only a small green house with a few different snake species. You know, garter, a rattle snake or two... but then, scientists around the world started to add different snake species, and plants from their habitat into the place. Some even started to add other reptiles. Lizards, crocodiles, alligators..."
"Alligators! Alligators! What alligators!" Joey suddenly exclaimed.
"Joey, let her continue!" Tea retorted.
"Then they had to expand the place. With all of the different reptiles living here, they needed more room. So they made the green house into a giant dome. They continued adding different reptiles. They built small buildings, like this one, so they could keep a watchful eye on the different reptiles, so they wouldn't kill and eat one another. The snakes and other reptiles soon became angry with the people, and drove them out. The scientists who were studying them wondered what was with them, but they ignored it. They soon stopped feeding the snakes, and it turned into this. A tour where every three years a group of people would go through and tour the snakes.
"I don't suppose you've heard, but three years ago, somebody was killed by a snake bite from this very sanctuary. And three years before that, a young boy destroyed the nest of a python. Now I assure you, the snakes were probably very angry... I understand that led them to bite and kill the other man... but would it really lead them to eating a human being?"
"Either that's the explanation, or the snakes are some really weird ass things," Joey replied. The four teens looked at one another.
"Oh, yes, before I forget... Joey, show the scientist your hand," Tea spoke up. Joey looked at her.
"Tea, I'm fine already! It's nothing, just a snake bite!" The scientist scooted toward Joey.
"Snake bites can be fatal if not taken care of properly," the scientist replied. Joey sighed, holding his hand out. The scientist unwrapped his hand, then gasped.
What Joey saw made him gasp as well.
The blackness had spread. It now covered the whole palm of his hand, except for a little on the bottom, and the same with the back. Joey started shaking a little.
"What... what did the snake look like... that bit you...?" Joey shook his head, his honey-brown eyes glued on his hand.
"I-I didn't get a good look at it... It was moving too fast... and I was trying to get away..." Joey mumbled. The scientist shook her head slowly.
"I guess you'd better have a professional look at it when we get out of here," Joey nodded, and wrapped the bite back up. He looked down.
"Last night... well... more correctly, this morning... the bite started almost pulsing. It hurt really bad, I had to pour water on it to make it stop," Joey stated. "And... uh... I put some disinfectant on it,"
Maybe it was better to not tell the others about Tea? They may think the wrong thing...
The scientist nodded.
"Sounds bad. Does it hurt at all right now?" Joey shook his head.
"It doesn't hurt unless it's pulsing. That was the first time," he replied. Yugi suddenly stood up.
"I'm going out for a minute..." he mumbled. He walked to the door. Joey watched him warily.
Great. Now Yugi thought he was going to die. What next?
Yugi walked out, and the room was in silence. Joey stood up and walked to the door. Tea and Tristen, behind him, stood and held him back. Joey looked back at the two.
"What are you guys doing! I want to talk to Yugi!" Joey exclaimed. Tea stared at him with her crystal blue eyes.
"Joey, leave Yugi alone,"
"Yugi is my best friend! I have a right to talk to my friend!"
"Joey, you need to leave him alone for now,"
"What's going on all of a sudden! Why are you guys acting like this!"
"Joey... you know what might happen to you..." Joey pulled away.
"This is bull!" he turned around and walked to the opposite wall of the window that was giving in light. He sat down against it. Hot tears started to run down his cheeks, but he was completely silent.
His friends were seeming to shun him. But why?
An hour or so later, Yugi came back in. He gave a smile to everyone in the room... except for Joey, who he couldn't see. Joey sat against the wall in the shadows. He let out a small sigh. Once Yugi heard it, he looked over to Joey.
"Joey?" He asked into the shadows. Joey didn't reply. He stood up and walked out the door. Joey walked into the forest, hearing the door of the building open and close behind him.
"Joey, wait!" Yugi's voice. Joey sighed, trudging through, ignoring the young-minded duelist behind him. "Joey! What's wrong, Joey!" Yugi called.
"Go on, Yugi! Go back to the others! I'm gonna die anyway, you all know it!" Yugi ran and stood in front of his friend. Tears could be seen in his eyes, threatening to fall down his cheeks.
"Joey, I don't think you're going to die! I think you're going to live! I went out of the room so I could think clearly, Joey! The others might think you are, but I believe you're not! I know that God wouldn't do that to me! I know it might sound selfish, but I honestly don't think God would!" Yugi shouted. Joey looked at him, blinking.
"Y-Yugi..." The tears fell down Yugi's cheeks. He turned around, tears falling one by one.
"Joey, please, don't do this... Don't leave us... we're friends... remember?" Yugi turned back around, gazing up at Joey. Joey sighed. He walked past the duelist, and through some more bushes. Yugi chased after him.
"Joey! Please!" He ran through the bushes and almost ran into Joey, who had suddenly stopped. Yugi blinked at him. "J-Joey?"
Joey stood, staring wide-eyed at the ground in front of him. Was it possible?
Yugi looked at what Joey was staring at. His red-violet eyes widened to the size of quarters.
The trail! Right there! The trail had been right there the whole time!
Joey turned to Yugi.
"Yug, get Tea, Tristen, and that scientist! Hurry!" Yugi nodded quickly and ran back the way they came.
Minutes later her came back, the other two teens and the scientist behind him. They had the bag with them.
"Guys, today we get outta here!" Joey exclaimed. Tea's eyes lit up as Joey turned and started walking down the trail.
"The reptiles won't stop us! I won't let them!" Joey exclaimed. The three teens behind him started walking as well, and they all soon broke into a run.
About an hour later, Joey, ahead of them, stopped suddenly. They all stopped behind him.
"Joey, what is it?" Yugi's voice rang. Joey stared out in front of him.
No way. This was impossible. How could this happen? The road ahead of them was grown over with forestry. They'd have to tread through, and hope they came out to the continuation of the trail on the other side! Either that or hope they got to the door. Behind him, he could hear the others moan, or sigh.
"We're never getting out of here..." Tea whispered. Joey turned.
"We are getting out of here. I promise. I promise all of you," he looked from Tea, to Tristen, to Yugi, then to the scientist. He turned around and started into the forest.
"J-Joey! Wait!" Yugi called. He raced after his friend, the other three right behind him. Joey pushed bushes and low tree branches aside. He was honestly determined to get out of this place. He had never been in a forest like this one before... he may get lost... he stopped suddenly, and turned around.
"Guys," he looked at his friends with a serious face.
"What is it, Joey?" Yugi gave a depressed-seeming face.
"Guys, listen to me. We might get lost. I'm not used to navigating through forests. The alleyways and streets of Domino, yes, but forests are a whole new thing to me. I'm warning you now. If you guys don't want to take the chance of getting lost, turn around and go back to that building back there, okay?" The other three teens shook their heads.
"No, Joey. We won't leave you. Not only should we really stick together, but we all want to get out of here just as bad as you do. We don't want you do die alone, either, Joey..." Tea said. Tears built in her eyes. Joey nodded. He turned to the scientist.
"Unless miss scientist here knows a lot about the wilderness, considering she obviously came on this trip knowing about snakes, and you'd think that someone who knew about snakes would know about the habitat they lived in," Joey suggested. The scientist shook her head.
"I don't know much about forests, I only study the snakes," the scientist said. Joey let out a sigh.
"Whelp, here we go then," he turned and continued on through the forest. His friends stuck behind him, and never left his side.
Half an hour later, they were still trudging through, and it was starting to get dark. They hadn't spoke the entire way, and had kept silent, in thought.
Suddenly, a scream behind the four teens broke the silence. They all turned quickly, to see the female scientist being attacked by a snake. Soon more came from the bushes and jumped from the trees onto her. They knocked her over, and you can guess what happened. Everyone backed up slowly.
Minutes later, a few snakes slithered from the body, towards the teens. The teens looked to the body. Bones could be seen, but very little of them. Blood pooled around the body, and the thing seemed a half-eaten corpse. More snakes started to leave the body, revealing just how much flesh was still left.
Tea started to gag slightly, but kept herself from vomiting at the sight. The snakes then turned their direction toward the teens. More snakes came from the bushes around and started to eat the rest of the body while the rest of the snakes started to hiss loudly, bearing their fangs, heading straight for the teens.
Tea screamed. The four teens took off running, all making sure to follow the one ahead of them, and the one in front, Joey, pushed through the greenery in hopes to just make it through. Soon the blonde burst through another set of bushes, and they were united with the trail once again.
"W-we did it!" Yugi exclaimed, stepping foot on the trail. The four teens stopped, and looked at the ground below them. Joey fell to his knees and was about to start kissing the ground, when suddenly the teens heard a hiss from nearby. They looked in the direction to see a large black python, bearing it's fangs. Joey quickly got up.
"Yes, um, who says we run for it?" Tristen suggested. The other three nodded, and they were quickly running down the trail, away from the python.
Once they thought they were far enough away, the four teens stopped to take a look at one another, and make sure everyone was okay. Joey sighed, sitting down on a large rock nearby.
"That was the freakiest thing I have ever seen," Tristen stated, panting heavily, and sitting where he was. Tea nodded, getting on her knees, panting as well. Yugi was bent over, hands on his knees, and panting. He looked up at his friends around him.
"Well, I, for one, am never coming back to this place again," Yugi stated. Tea nodded in agreement.
"I'm suing this place," she replied, but then everyone went dead silent.
"You'd think they'd sent out a search party for us already, since we hadn't come back, don't you?" Joey asked the others. Yugi shrugged.
"I don't know. You'd think they would..." Joey stood.
"Well, now that I'm done catching my breath, I'm going to continue on. Anyone wish to join me?" There were nods all around, and everyone stood back up, and they continued on down the trail.
"I hope that python was the last snake we got to see on this trip," Tristen sighed.
"Yeah," Joey replied. "Same here," Tea and Yugi nodded in agreement.
"This has been the weirdest two days in my life," Tea stated.
"Weirder than Duelist Kingdom?" Joey asked.
"Weirder than the Battle City finals?" Tristen chimed.
"Well... okay... that was weird, too... but I still sort of think this was weirder... I mean, think about it. Snakes eating people?" Tea said, and it left the boys silent.
They walked on in silence after that, until Joey let out a sigh, and looked around.
"I wonder if any of the other people made it out of that thing," Joey wondered aloud. Yugi nodded.
"I hope a few did... we saw that two scientists will obviously not make it back..." the thought made all of the kids cringe this time.
"I hope I never have to see something like that again," Tea said with a sigh. "When I get home, I'm taking a hot warm shower, then a four hour bath!" The boys laughed.
"Well, when I get home, I'm gonna sit down at the couch with a bag of pocky's and stay there for the next five days," Joey said. The others laughed.
"Whose couch, Joey? Yugi's? I'm sure you don't have one of your own," Tristen joked.
"Well, when I get home, I'm gonna take out all of my puzzles and redo them, with Yami's help!" Yugi chimed.
The four continued to talk about what they were going to do once they got home. The warm thoughts of their bedrooms, and other things. They walked on, not paying too much attention to where they were going, but made sure they kept on the trail.
Tea soon stopped walking and sighed. The others stopped, and looked to her.
"What is it, Tea?" Tristen asked.
"I... uhm..." Tea looked down, a blush creeping over her face. Yugi knew. He laughed slightly, looking at the other boys.
"Guys, we should take a break here, okay?" Yugi nodded. "Tea, you can go ahead and uh... yeah..." He turned to the other boys, who now no longer had a look of confusion. Tea nodded, and walked off into the forestry, but made positive to not go too far.
The boys sat on the dirt trail, and started talking about various things. Soon Tea came back out of the forest, looking relieved that no snakes had come to attack her. The four resumed their walking.
Soon, the giant green doors came into view. Once they did, the four teens broke into a run, shouting with joy. They got to the doors, and Tea fell against them, almost hugging them. The four heard a hissing noise behind them.
"No way," Tea said. The four teens turned to see a giant lizard standing there. They all let out a sigh of relief. A lizard wasn't dangerous... was it?
Joey turned back around and pushed on the doors a little. They started to give away.
"J-Joey..." Yugi mumbled. Tristen and Tea turned their attention to the spiky-haired duelist, who was shivering in fear.
"What is it, Yugi?" Tea asked, a frown coming over her face.
"That lizard... is a Komodo Dragon," Yugi said. "The most..." he swallowed hard, "deadly lizard ever... their saliva is extremely toxic..." the other three teens froze on the spot. The deadly reptile crawled towards the teens. Tea and Tristen started to help push the door in. It soon gave away and opened, revealing a darkened room with no forestry, no greenery, just walls and a few cabinets.
The teens ran into the room, and the lizard crawled to the door, going faster with every step. Soon more came out from the bushes nearby, and headed for the door as well. Joey and Tristen frantically pushed the doors, trying to close them.
Joey could feel the Komodo Dragon's breath on his ankle as he and Tristen shut the door. The reptiles on the other side could be heard scratching at the door with their claws. Tristen and Joey collapsed, panting.
They did it.
They were out.
They're free! Thank the lords! They're finally free of Reptile Cove! FINALLY! Of course, there's TONS more to come. Sorry this chapter was so long, I wasn't honestly trying to make it this long, it just turned out that way. Please, read and review! large grin
btw, I'm going to pause this story for a while. sighs while hearing tons of moans Yes, I know, but I need to get farther on some of my other stories, and trust me, I want to continue this story just as much as you want me to, but that's not gonna happen. I'm going to finish one of my other stories first, and get farther on some, and then I'll continue, okay? Sorry for this you guys, but it has to be done. Ja ne!