Chapter 9: Fear

Hasty footsteps met the chirping of crickets, heralding the arrival of dusk. The trio made their way through the brush, not having the time to return to higher ground. Along their path they could hear all manner of creatures beginning to emerge. The denizens of the oncoming night were awakening, replacing the eerie silence of the day.

Lynn began to pant, trying to steady her breath as she ran. "No stoppin' now gang, this ain't just a hike in the woods no more!" She shouted behind her. The cat knew that sundown brought with it an air of panic, as most of the truly vicious carnivores were coming out.

Nick and Judy stayed close behind the agile cat, thanking their police training for the extensive amount of cardio work outs. Nick looked around him carefully as his surroundings grew darker ever so slowly. He could see in the distance just some of the creatures emerging, including those of the eight legged variety. Shaking his head, he refocused on the path ahead, not wanting to think about another encounter with a spider of any kind. Judy listened all around her, hearing several pairs of legs starting to shuffle around that weren't their own. What unnerved her the most was just how many there had to be, almost as if the ants were returning in their direction.

"Lynn! Are those ants I'm hearing?!" Judy called out, looking all around her to see if another army was indeed headed their way.

"If'n you're askin' about all that scurryin' you're hearin', don't worry, they're probably all belongin' to a centipede or two!" Lynn replied, looking back briefly with a nod. "They sure do make a lot o' ruckus, but that ain't the sound we need to be worryin' 'bout!"

"Then what is?!" Nick asked with a shout.

As if answering him, a sudden boom echoed out in the distance, as if an explosion had occurred somewhere. Lynn stopped in her tracks, causing the pair to stop with her. Nick and Judy looked ahead and around them once again, trying to figure out where the thunderous noise had come from. Judy looked to Lynn, gulping nervously, "Wh-what was that?"

Lynn panted softly, gulping as well before turning to the pair. "Few things make that much noise just getting' up, but at this time, I reckon her majesty is awake," Lynn replied, looking ahead carefully.

The pair thought what she had meant briefly. Remembering the morning hike, they recalled Lynn having told them about an emperor scorpion she had called Sheila. They turned to each other, nodding in understanding at what was being mentioned. Judy looked back at Lynn, "would we know if she's approaching?"

"She's dang near impossible to miss," Lynn assured the rabbit, resuming the run. While running, she continued to explain what she meant with the pair close behind her. "Sheila ain't just big, she's way big, one o' the biggest darn things on this whole dadgum island!" she added while bounding up along a few rocks to get a good view ahead. While on her perch, she turned to the pair once more. "N' if'n ya don't see her first, y'all'll definitely hear her, big lady got footsteps like a livin' earthquake."

The pair listened carefully to what Lynn was telling them, nodding as she explained how to identify if they were in close proximity to Sheila. Nick gulped down nervously, thinking about how large the aforementioned scorpion had to be that her movements alone could be that loud.

Without another word the trio made their way through the jungle, staying low and keeping a steady running pace. Every few minutes they would stop as Lynn surveyed the area. The pair took note of how high strung the cat was being about the prospect of encountering Sheila. As they went, they were met with the occasional huntsman spider that Lynn had warned the pair about. Each attempt at their lives, time and time again, thwarted by the protective cat with dismembered spiders left in her wake. Despite her previous sentiments about them being fierce predators, it was clear and obvious to the pair that she was the one on top of the food chain in the jungle.

After what seemed like half an hour of running, the trio came across an opening in the jungle. A fallen tree resided in the center of the opening, the rotting wood partially buried. The area around the log teemed with life as several insects such as millipedes, pill bugs, and cockroaches all scurried about.

Judy couldn't help but wretch at the sight of at least a dozen roaches and larvae sitting around. "Oh sweet cheese and crackers…" she muttered, stepping back slowly.

"Come on Funny Bunny, this ain't no time to be concerned 'bout these here bugs," Lynn stated as she made her way towards the rotting log. Nick followed closely behind, watching each of the other bugs carefully. Judy followed soon after, hesitantly, shuddering as she passed by a few cockroaches. Lynn kept her eyes on every bug present, mostly towards the roaches. "This tree been here for 'bout two years now, I was there when it fell, real scary stuff," Lynn pointed out, ducking under some giant twigs.

"What brought it down?" Judy asked, her own sights refusing to avert from any of the bugs they were passing.

"Sheila brought it down," Lynn replied as she leaped up to a branch to see her surroundings once more. Jumping back down in front of the pair, she continued talking. "The tree was already pretty much dead and half eaten, but when Sheila came through, she brought the whole thing down on accident."

"Accident?" Nick asked incredulously.

"Yep, she wasn't doin' nothin', just walkin', I reckon her claw might've struck it or somethin' or other, next thing I know the whole darn tree comes crashin' down," Lynn added on.

Nick shook his head, trying to make sense of the idea that something that large could exist. It frightened him to know that such a thing did exist and that it was now awake and wandering about.

Lynn then stopped abruptly once more and her ears turned to listen off into the distance. Judy tuned into whatever it was Lynn was hearing, yet all was silent.

"What is it? What do you hear?" Nick asked, looking around carefully once more, hatchet at the ready.

"That's just it Foxy…it's quiet…too quiet," Lynn pointed out. She leapt up to a higher vantage point once more, looking far beyond and listening carefully. Judy nodded in agreement, even the chirping of crickets were absent.

After a moment of silence, the trio could feel the ground shake. Lynn stared out from her perch, her eyes going wide as she leapt back down to the pair once more. "Well gang, good news is, it ain't ants, bad news is we still gotta run!" Lynn shouted as she began sprinting towards the rotting log.

The pair followed suit, panting now from panic at the way Lynn reacted. Judy tried to look over the rocks to see what the cat might've seen. "Lynn, What's going on, is it Sheila?!"

"Nope, still, get in here!" Lynn shouted as she slid into a small cave under the log. The trio clamored into the small hole in the ground, looking back out. Lynn watched as several of the insects outside tried to fit into whatever crevice was present on the log. She observed a lone peppered roach now, seeing the creature opting to ride out what was to come. The ground continued to shake as a flurry of black legs were seen stampeding across the land.

Judy watched wide eyed at what was going on, she couldn't even see the bodies that the legs were leading up to. "Lynn, what are these?!" She shouted, trying to speak over the thunderous stampede.

"These here are harvestmen! Most folks call em' daddy long legs though!" Lynn answered loudly.

"What are they doing?!" Nick asked, watching each of the many long legs passing by.

"I reckon they were aggregatin' earlier n' now they're out to hunt!" Lynn replied, trying to look past the flurry of legs to see if the roach was still there. She managed to spot the roach, seeing that it was still there, trampled, but unmoved. "But I might be wrong!" Lynn added, keeping her eye on the roach.

"Well what do you think it is if they're not hunting?!" Judy shouted, peering out to see if there was an end to the wave of daddy long legs.

"Well, if'n an aggregate gets disturbed by somethin' they think is a threat, the harvestmen would scatter to confuse any would-be predators!" Lynn replied, averting her gaze from the stampede. "N' I reckon that may be the case here, these critters ain't stoppin' fer nothin'!"

"So do you think we're safe, you know, after they all pass?!" Nick asked, looking to Lynn with his hatchet to his chest.

Judy turned to Lynn as well, nodding at Nick's question. "It's gonna get dark, Lynn! Isn't this going to get dangerous?!" she added.

"Well I reckon it'd be darker once this is over but-" Lynn started while looking out once again, finding that all the daddy long legs had passed…but the rumbling hadn't stopped. Feeling the ground, she could feel that all the tremors were now coming from one direction, the opposite of which the daddy long legs had been running from. She held her paw over mouth, stepping back from the mouth of the cave with wide eyed terror. "Get down y'all," Lynn ordered as she pulled the pair lower to the ground. Nick and Judy didn't argue or resist and laid low with their guardian.

The earth continued to tremble even though nothing was in sight. Sudden silence befell the jungle once more, the tremors seemingly having ceased. The trio watched as the roach from earlier rose from its spot, the insect slowly making its way to the tree. It hadn't made more than three steps before an enormous black pincer came down upon it. Feebly the car sized roach screeched, flailing about as it was picked up and carried out of sight. The screeching cut off abruptly with a loud crunching noise. A low growl followed, causing the ground to shake ever so slightly.

Lynn kept herself low, her eyes widening as the roach was snatched up. She kept her paws around Nick and Judy, who had similar expressions on their own faces. The pincer alone was the size of a bus; the pair didn't want to think about the size of the creature it had come from.

After the crunching died down, the rumbling returned. The trio then watched as massive columns passed by, legs of the behemoth clad in black armor. They spoke not a word as the rumbling trailed off, growing distant. Quietly Lynn stood, poking her head out slowly and looking off in the direction the rumbling was now headed to. With just her head she gestured to the pair to come look, leaving the cave. Nick and Judy looked at each other, nodding to one another before making their way out. They stood by the cat and looked off into the distance at what she was staring at. The trio watched as a towering black figure marched onward, descending into the darkness of the jungle. Nick and Judy took mental notes on just how big Sheila was, wide eyed bewilderment plastered on their faces.

Judy stood silently, her eyes not once averting from the shadowy figure until she could see it no more. "So…that was Sheila?" she asked, still awestruck and terrified at what she had seen.

"Yep," Lynn replied flatly. By this point the insects that had hidden themselves in the rotting log began to reemerge, sensing the danger had passed. "N' hopefully we don't have to see her again," Lynn carried on, climbing up the log.

The pair followed Lynn, Judy making quick leaps up the gnarled wood while Nick climbed a more traditional way. At the top of the log, the cat looked out in the direction the colossal scorpion was headed to. With a sigh she looked down to help Nick up. "Come on y'all, last thing we need is for her highness to come back," Lynn remarked.

Nick brushed off the rotten wood fibers from his top and from his fur, realizing the bath was now a fruitless endeavor. With a sigh of his own, he popped his back and turned to Lynn. "You must really dislike Sheila I take it?" Nick asked, having noticed her disdain towards the scorpion.

"I'm scared to death of her," Lynn pointed out, earning a surprised look from the pair. It was astonishing to know the cat was genuinely afraid of something. "She's one o' the only things on this here island I can't kill," She added while making her way towards the other side of the log. "Not only that, but if she starts chasin' ya, yer only hope o' survivin' is duckin' somewhere her claws can't reach, runnin' from her is dang near impossible, she's big, yea, but that don't mean slow, no sir, she don't need to take too many steps 'fore she's on top o' ya, I can guarantee that," Lynn finished her rant, jumping back down to the ground.

Judy listened carefully, looking in the direction the creature had walked off too. "Lynn…you keep saying that she's one of the largest or one of whatever else…are there any other things on this island like her?" she asked. Nick thought about for a moment and nodded, wanting to know the answer himself.

"Oh sure there are, course there's Sheila, then there's ol' Lenny, n' Rosy, n' Eustace, n'-" Lynn began listing off, stopping abruptly. Not only had she stopped talking, she stopped moving altogether. The pair watched her, assuming she was hearing something. Judy listened around her, yet there were no new sounds from before. Nick looked around in the dark, seeing nothing approaching other than the roaches that scurried around seemingly randomly. The pair looked back at Lynn more carefully, seeing she was holding up her fingers as she was listing the names. The thing that caught their attention, however, was how her paw trembled. Shaking her head, she clenched her paw into a fist. "Y'know, th-that's somethin' better told some other time," Lynn hastily blurted out before resuming the trek.

Nick cocked his brow, genuinely curious of what she was going to say. If she was so scared to death of Sheila, what could possibly scare her so much that she couldn't even mention its name? The pair looked at each other, both wanting answers to the shared question in mind.

The trip back was met with no real dangers, save for the occasional huntsman spider, all left dismembered. A familiar sight greeted the trio, Nick and Judy in particular looking up to see the plane in the tree.

"Man, I did not think I would be so happy to see this tree," Nick remarked, rubbing his face after the strenuous hike.

Judy nodded in agreement; her feet were used to running long distances, but not on such hazardous and uneven terrain.

Lynn stopped them abruptly once more as they walked, her ears twitching. "We ain't safe just yet y'all," she pointed out, her spear in paw.

"More spiders?" Nick asked, clutching the hatchet.

Not a word was spoken, the armed cat merely keeping her vigil as they slowly approached the tree. Another brief pause followed, a sigh leaving her lips as she stabbed the spear into the ground. Abruptly she turned around just as a blur leapt onto her. This time she was prepared for it as she caught a familiar spider. "What did I say 'bout jumpin' on folks like this Spidsy?" she scolded the spider, who in turn was left flailing feebly in the cats grip.

Despite having seen the jumping spider in the morning, it didn't stop the pair from being startled at the surprise attack. Getting caught in a web and being harassed by spiders for most of the evening did not help their disposition towards the pet spider.

"Come on now, y'know you ain't nocturnal ya silly lil' thing," she stated, setting the spider down. Spidsy looked up at the cat, tilting side to side as he did in the morning. "Now run along now, y'hear? I don't want you out here at this time o' night, sweetheart, I don't want you gettin' eaten by nothin', ok?" she continued to scold, pointing to a tree nearby, "Go on, git."

At that, the spider turned to the tree and scurried off. It was still questionable whether or not the spider understood her, but it certainly seemed that way.

"You really are worried about that spider, huh?" Judy asked, still cautiously watching the spider.

"I worry about that lil' guy like he's one o' my own," Lynn pointed out. "Y'see, jumpin' spiders are…what was that word again? Di-…Dire-…Diurnal! Yea, there we go. They's diurnal see, the opposite o' nocturnal, n' there's plenty o' larger things that come out at night that'd eat 'em," Lynn added on, approaching the winding vine they walked on to get to the jungle floor to begin with.

The trip back up the tree was met with absolutely no other confrontations. Soon enough the trio approached the entangled plane. After entering the wreckage, Lynn did a quick survey to make sure there weren't any unwanted visitors. The all clear was met with sighs of relief on everyone's part as they set down the food and water. Lynn took all the weapons and put them back into the box before heading out to recoat the repellant.

Nick and Judy made themselves comfortable on the pile of blankets and pillows, lying back with a stretch. "Wow…that trip was something else," Nick pointed out, exhaustion in his voice while he rubbed the right side of his head.

Judy nodded in agreement, sitting up to rub at her feet. "We couldn't even stay clean for more than half an hour," the rabbit pointed out, sighing as she worked the aching feeling in her feet out. "Maybe we would've been better off staying in the plane."

"I'll remind us not to go back to the river for a while," Nick jested, yawning as he placed his paws behind his head.

Judy joined her partner, lying close beside him. A pause followed as the pair stared blankly at the cabin ceiling. "That was uncharacteristic of us…" Judy stated at last.

"What was?" Nick asked, looking to his partner.

"How we just…gave up like that," Judy pointed out. "When we were caught in that web…we just gave up," she added on.

"Yea, that was definitely not us…well, not you…I gave up a lot before I met you," Nick pointed out.

"You still give up a lot, Wilde, you give up every time we have to file paperwork," Judy teased.

The fox chuckled at her retort, turning to his side. Judy followed suit, meeting his gaze.

"Sly bunny."

"Dumb Fox."

Another chuckle followed, this time from both of them. Nick poked his partner's nose, earning a playful tap to his forehead. Without another word, the pair drifted off into sleep.