by Dave Hazel
“Damn,” Jake gawked. “I don’t believe what my friggin eyes are showing me. It looks like the owner of this thing caught a deer. I think we better get the hell away from here.”
“Wait a minute,” Finley raised his hand. “Help me make sure I understand this.” He spoke quietly. “Are you saying that there may be a giant spider here? Large enough to catch and eat a deer like a regular spider would eat an insect?”
No one answered. They all scanned the trees around them.
“I don’t wanna believe it, but what the hell would you make of that?” Jake pointed to a very large orb spider web latched between two trees. The glistening silk ropes looked fresh. Though free of victims and creator it clearly appeared large enough to entangle a human.
“How many more things are we going to have to worry about while here in Towbar’s world?” Finley asked.
“I’d say you better be ready to expect the unexpected at all times,” Boris said. “I’ll be honest with you Sir, I’m nervous,” he admitted and scanned the area.
“Sir, what are we going to do?” Staff Sergeant Hayes whispered slowly to Diaz. Hayes was one of only three Army Rangers. He started to roll down his sleeve over his ‘Death Before Dishonor’ tattoo as if the sleeves would protect his arms from such large spiders.
“We’re gonna get the hell outta here,” Mykal answered before Diaz could reply.
“Oh dammmmmmn,” Sergeant Gorman slowly gasped. “My black ass hates spiders. I hates little damn spiders. Dis is un-friggin-believable.”
“Dair is mo ah dem,” announced the Korean nick-named ‘Smiley’ due to his ever present smile. Being one of the three point men, Smiley pointed out several more huge webs.
“Oh shit! They’re all over the place,” Private First Class Taylor yelled out. He stood near Smiley who still smiled, though barely.
“Holy mother of God,” Sergeant Verzani whispered. He quivered while he fingered his rosary beads. “Look at that and please tell me I’m seeing things,” he pointed around a tree that blocked the view of most.
Everyone moved to peek around the tree to see what caught the Marine’s eye. Hanging above, between two trees, was a black spider the size of a very large dog. The monster dangled at the end of a web, preoccupied with its catch. The long spiny legs moved rapidly to wrap its meal. The covering of silk shined in a pearl color but the threads seemed extremely thick.
The jet black spider had bright yellow and orange designs in the large sack of its belly. The long legs worked expertly with the long fangs to encircle the animal with the silk rope to preserve the victim. If the size of the arachnid wasn’t so large it would be a great nature lesson to take in. Should the eight legged freak catch sight of them, or sense them, it could easily over power any one of them.
“We need to leave now,” Mykal demanded. “The last time I was close to a giant spider the thing thumped me on the head with its leg trying to find me. Move slowly.”
“Don’t draw any attention to yourself,” Jake advised and followed Mykal’s lead.
“Where are we gonna go?” Taylor asked now that positions were reversed and he pulled up the rear instead of point.
“Anywhere but here,” Diaz whispered. He waved his arms for the men to start moving. “I want eyes open,” he said. The men didn’t have to be told to be more alert than normal.
They headed back but the rear guards, now the point men, turned so they would be able to circle around the area with all the spider webs. There was some confusion and they didn’t want to back track the entire route. They were confident they’d be able to flank the spiders far enough to get by unnoticed.
As a group they moved quietly but slowly. They watched in all directions around, above and below them. They examined every tree branch and watched every step they took. They were like a patrol in the jungles of Vietnam looking for booby-traps. It seemed their route of travel was a better path, but soon they found they were surrounded by hundreds of webs of varying sizes. They clearly didn’t give themselves enough room to circle around the area of giant spiders. They only saw a few spiders and the spiders didn’t seem to notice them. The farther they traveled the harder it became to keep their distance from the giant spiders and their webs.
Finley called Mykal to him. He stood with Diaz and Kim. “Myk, I screwed up,” Finley declared. “We’re going to have to go all the way back. I thought we would be able to sneak around them, meaning the spiders, but we’re not going to be able to get through here without coming into contact with some of these things. I can’t believe how many of them there are and how grouped together they are.”
“It’s not your fault,” Diaz replied. “I gave the okay to turn when we did. The blame lies with me.”
“No one is to blame! Period,” Mykal said to end both their falling on swords. “Our situation is too damn bizarre.”
“But you’re right Sir,” Jake said. “I’ve never heard of spiders traveling in packs.”
Mykal took a knee with the three leaders. They tried to determine any path that would take them through the spider lair without coming into close contact. Mykal was amazed at what he saw. There were many giant spiders of differing sizes, shapes and colors. They were everywhere and most were higher up in the trees but there were many down low to the ground that could be a serious threat.
It amazed Mykal to see all the different shapes, sizes and colors, and they all stayed in the same general area. Most were furry and colorful, but some were sleek and black. They looked just like a giant black widow minus the red hour glass shape on the underbelly. The smallest of the spiders were about the size of a basketball. The smaller spiders were the most colorful. They were either a black or brown with bright reds, yellows, greens and blues streaked through their bodies. The smaller, colorful, spiders were higher in the trees. Some rested in their spiral orbs waiting for any signals that a prey became trapped. A few of the colorful spiders dangled from the web or tree branch as if waiting for any movement so as to drop or pounce on any activity below.
The larger spiders seemed to rest on the trees waiting for victims to stumble into the webs closer to the ground. The large spiders ranged in sizes from a Saint Bernard to a Volkswagen Beetle. All the larger spiders were dull in color, mostly brown and some grey. The brown and grey were very hairy and thick like a giant tarantula. The smaller black spiders were sleek and shiny, but just as foreboding.
“Yeah, let’s just get away from here,” Mykal agreed. “I don’t care how long it takes us. I just wanna get away.”
As they moved along one of the men stepped on a piece of wood connected to some webs. Suddenly the tops of the trees seemed to come to life all at once like an alarm had gone off. With much scurrying and hustling of many of the smaller, bright colored, spiders, there was no denying their presence had become detected. Spiders searched for where the vibrations came from.
“We have to be careful,” Diaz called out.
“I didn’t mean that Sir,” Private First Class Chandler called back. “I tripped with my 60, Sir.”
“I know you didn’t mean it. I just want everyone to be careful,” Diaz said while looking all around the tree tops. “It’s like we hit the ‘on’ switch, because they are riled up.”
“Let’s not create a panic, but let’s speed up our departure people,” Lieutenant Finley yelled out.
They moved away from the area where the spider commotion started and Mykal noticed the spiders seemed to follow them. When men neared the spiders the spiders would scurry away, but other spiders would follow along the tops of the trees and some followed on the ground. They kept their distance and some spiders ducked behind trees giving the impression they were intelligent creatures with a plan and not just reacting.
“Man, I don’t freaking believe it,” Winfield called out.
“What is it Winnie?” Diaz replied to the black Marine near the rear position.
“Sir, these dang things is following us,” Winnie said incredulously which confirmed Mykal’s tho
ughts. “They is gettin’ too dang close Sir. I think they is gonna attack us.”
“Keep eyes wide open,” Kim said. “Remain poised to respond and don’t hesitate,” he added in an attempt to keep the men from panicking. “This is strange,” he confided to Finley. “I’m really concerned. It would be one thing if we were encircled by an army of men, but to be surrounded and pursued by ginormous spiders is something totally different.”
“They may just be curious,” Finley said to ease the minds of the men, but he didn’t sound like he believed his own words.
Mykal pointed to some of the spiders moving toward them. “Look at this,” Mykal whispered. “They’re not even in their webs anymore and not only are they following us, but it looks like some are moving ahead to block us in.”
“You gotta be kidding me!” Jake looked bewildered. “Look, they’re starting to come lower from the trees too.”
“It looks like they’ve lost their fear of us,” Boris said when the separation visibly shrunk. “This can’t be happening. I hate little spiders, so these damn things are gonna make me shit myself.”
“Please keep it down,” Kim called quietly.
As a child Mykal never feared spiders or snakes or insects of any kind. During his encounter with a giant snow spider just a few months ago, he watched a spider about the size of a large vehicle kill a man larger than himself. The same creature almost took his life while he watched the other man die. He definitely had a healthy respect toward this army of arachnids.
Seeing the different spiders at different angles made it clear the fangs all varied in sizes. Some looked like daggers and some were long like swords. That didn’t take into account any poison they may possess.
Diaz whispered to get Mykal’s attention. “I think we’re going to be attacked.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” he replied without looking back. He repositioned his grip on his rifle.
“They keep following us no matter how far we go from their nest,” Boris spoke softly.
“They seem to know what they’re doing,” William said and he sounded more frightened than ever. He had remained quiet all day because he knew most, if not all, of the men were still angry with him. “It’s like the spiders have brains. Aren’t spiders supposed to be unintelligent?”
“Supposed to be,” a voice answered quietly.
“But being here in Towbar’s world they probably got a degree in warfare,” someone yelled out sarcastically.
“Man, some of these things are bigger than my huntin’ dog back home,” a southern voice called out.
“Let’s keep it down,” Finley advised. “Let’s try not to provoke them and maybe they’ll leave us alone.”
“What if we have to run? They’re getting too damn close Sir,” someone called out, the man’s voice sounded anxious.
“If we run, we gotta stay together,” Mykal raised his voice as frightful images from his last nightmare flashed through his mind. “We’re already lost. You don’t want to be lost and separated from the group.” He turned to Finley. “As a matter of fact, have everyone start to tighten up our formation. Make sure we can all see the next few people. We have to depend on each other.”
“Myk, these damn things are beginning to piss me off,” Boris snarled because his fear increased as he watched the varying sized spiders sneaking closer to them. “Why don’t we shoot a couple of them and see what happens.”
“Yeah,” Jake agreed. “Maybe if we kill a few of them they’ll back off and leave us alone.”
“And if they don’t?” Finley quickly responded.
“Then we get them before they get us,” Boris fired back. He liked the idea of shooting the little monsters.
“I’m for it,” Mykal nodded and preferred to go on the offensive. He believed some of them were eyeing him. He grew tired of waiting to see if they would attack before he could defend himself. “Diaz, whadda you think?”
Before Diaz answered, Mykal caught sight of something that happened so fast he couldn’t believe his eyes. Smiley, one of the Koreans soldiers disappeared. Smiley looked up a tree at the activity and suddenly the ground in front of him opened as if it was a large trap door and a giant spider jumped out from under the trap door with front legs out and three foot long fangs curled up, poised for the strike. The Trapdoor spider was larger than any they had seen so far.
In a split second the truck sized arachnid landed on its four rear legs and pounced forward collapsing the front legs around Smiley to keep him from fighting back and held him firm while the two long incisors clamped down and into Smiley’s belly and ripping upward so they bore through his upper body.
The speed with which the gargantuan hunter attacked was amazing. In an instant the long furry limbs wrapped around Smiley like a blanket of death. He yelped and suddenly the paralyzing venom that pumped into his system prevented him from reacting at all. The loud crunching sound of his chest crushing like match sticks rang out catching everyone’s attention. Smiley’s instinctive reaction to raise his arms had been smothered by the furry blanket of death.
In a blur the giant spider withdrew back to the hidden cave. The trap door covering was replaced and Smiley disappeared as if he never existed. If Mykal wouldn’t have witnessed it with his own eyes he wouldn’t have believed it. Smiley vanished. There was no hope for the ever smiling Korean soldier. The attack on Smiley had been silent, fast and deadly. Mykal remembered documentaries on Trapdoor Spiders back in his world but they were smaller than his hand.
Stunned and frozen in disbelief, Mykal tried to make the sudden attack register in his mind. ‘Smiley was standing there and then in an instant he was gone, dead.’ Mykal couldn’t have prevented it.
“Did you see that?” Boris cried out in horror.
A panic spread among most of the men as several giant spiders began dropping from above. The spiders attacked as one unit, not mindless creatures reacting on instincts. It looked like a coordinated planned attack.
“Get the hell outta here,” Mykal yelled.
Just as the words left Mykal’s mouth a black spider the size of a small dog landed on Diaz’s shoulder, causing Diaz’s knees to buckle slightly under the weight. The sleek black body was dotted with bright orange and red circles, and streaked with bright yellow zigzags.
Mykal swiftly swung his rifle. He hit the giant spider with the butt of his rifle just as the spider raised up to strike with its venomous fangs. The creature flung to the ground leaving a connecting web attached to Diaz’s shoulder. The spider quickly righted itself and charged toward Diaz again.
“Are you freakin kiddin me?” Mykal gawked in disbelief that the spider had it in for Diaz. Mykal and Diaz both fired a couple of rounds into the body where they stopped it in its tracks.
Gun fire rang out through the forest as the men shot at any spider that moved toward them or posed a possible threat. Some were shot in the trees, where they fell to the ground with a hard thud. Some of the heavy bodies burst on impact. The sounds heard were of men yelling, weapons discharging, and the sound of heavy bodies scurrying across tree branches or along the ground.
Mykal expected to hear high pitched screams and screeches from the creatures like he had in all the old horror movies he watched as a kid. But these giant spiders made no noise. These monsters weren’t the creation of Hollywood. He continued shooting at anything he thought to be too close, but many more kept coming from the trees.
Green Beret Sergeant Nicholas had four spiders drop on or near him all at once. In a panic he dropped his rifle and ran as fast as he could, despite the calls of his friends. Nicholas had never expressed fear of any man, but this was something different. His yells and cries expressed sheer terror and revealed his fear of spiders. Nicholas had been swarmed not much farther from where he dropped his rifle and fled. He fell to the ground with at least six giant spiders on his body biting into him. It was shocking that more than one spider would share the same victim.
Marine Lance Corporal Dowd panicke
d when he saw what happened to Nicholas. His weapon needed to be reloaded but fear overtook him. He cried out and threw his M-16/M-203 at a large spider scampering along the ground at him. When he realized he disarmed himself Dowd turned and ran opposite of Nicholas. His actions were shocking for any who knew him. One time in Los Angeles he stood up to six gang members who were trying to rob a drunken Marine outside of a bar. He took a physical beating while he fought back. Fortunately police were right around the corner and ended it before he and the drunken Marine were seriously injured or killed.
*******
“Nooooo,” Dowd yelled when he ran face first into a giant hairy body that dropped from the tree above him. He grabbed the spiny legs with his bare hands, and felt the hairy underbelly rub against his face. Dowd pulled the giant spider from his face and the sudden frightful, grotesque shiver made him suddenly forget what he was doing. The large dripping fangs sank into his face, breaking his cheek bone, and ripped his jaw out of socket. The paralyzing venom dropped him almost immediately. His limbs twitched wildly while he consciously watched other spiders rush in to feast on his limp form. His entire nervous system shut down.
Dowd heard gunshots, yelling and screaming, but he couldn’t breathe and he couldn’t speak or yell vocally. His mind screamed for help to those rushing away from him, but his body twitched uncontrollably. His body refused to respond to his brain. Cerebrally he screamed for help in utmost desperation, while he slowly suffocated. Mentally he yelled for help, but horror overwhelmed him and the light in his eyes slowly went dark.
*******
Before running away, Mykal took a double take to make sure Smiley really wasn’t there. He shot at a couple more giant spiders, looked at the ground where Smiley had been dragged under and gave up. The Korean couldn’t be brought back. He hoped Smiley died quickly.
Diaz and Finley both yelled commands to the men to keep them from losing their focus and to maintain self-control. They fought with the men and ordered the men to move as one unit. The key was to stay together and side by side as much as possible. No stragglers, no independent heroic actions, all must fight together and all will leave together.
