by Greig Beck
The lumping in the water occurred again, and then a small island appeared. The glossy island rolled, and one massive eye, easily three feet across, fixed on the scene, and then silently submerged.
“Oh shit, there’s something else in here.” John pulled Matt back toward him.
The beast attacking the women froze. Its head came up sharply, and then it roared. The women now forgotten, it turned toward Matt and John, and started to power its way toward them.
The island appeared again, becoming a mountain as it surged after the fleeing beast. The new creature’s jaws opened wide on a head that was a cross between reptile and whale. Rows of tusk-like teeth grabbed at the fleeing monster’s torso, clinging there momentarily before several hundred pounds of flesh were ripped away, and the thing slid back under the water.
The wounded beast turned momentarily, prepared to fight, facing the open lake with its own artillery now brought to bear. Its massive jaws hung open, dagger teeth ready and claws held forward. But there came another surge, as if the lake itself was welling up to consume the standing beast, and it was jerked below the water. When it re-emerged a few seconds later, it was a full fifty feet farther out.
On dry land it might have stood a chance, but the massive thing it fought had no intention of giving it that option. The water was its kingdom – here, it ruled. The beast bellowed again, but this time there was panic and fear in the long, tortured notes. It continued to move away from the shore, pulled by something below the water.
It was jerked hard again, and this time a geyser of blood flew into the air. The attack now began in earnest – an enormous gray body, outweighing its prey many times over, like a huge muscular eel with flippers on each side, clamped a mouth across the beast’s back. A huge tail thrashed and churned, propelling itself and its prey out to ever-deeper water. Matt knew what its goal was. Just like modern crocodiles, this thing wouldn’t need to fight, it just had to hold on and submerge its prey. The water would do the rest.
The lake was exploding in a maelstrom of thrashing, the two leviathans locked in a death match. Their battle created huge waves, pushing Matt and John closer to the shoreline.
“Matt!” Two small bodies frantically swam toward them. Matt bobbed out through the choppy water to meet them. Megan grabbed him, shaking, and pressing her icy lips to his. She clung to him. “I knew you’d come.”
John grabbed Carla just as the last of her energy reserves ran out. He held her head above water as she slumped against him, telling her softly to relax. She shook her head.
“Not here – get to the bank.”
Megan tugged at Matt. “She’s right – too much blood in the water now.”
They swam hard, John using a one-armed stroke, while his other arm kept Carla afloat.
Kurt and Joop met them in the shallows and helped them onto the bank. Megan fell to her knees, coughing and spitting. She looked up at Matt and laughed wetly. “Good times, Kearns.”
Carla pointed. “Look.”
The group turned back to the water – there was nothing. The lake still rippled, but there was no more noise, no more thrashing of bodies fighting to the death. The battle had been decided, and now, somewhere below the surface, a feast would begin.
Carla rose to her knees, then used John’s arm to get to her feet. “Anyone else think we shouldn’t be here?”
Megan straightened. “At least I’m not itchy anymore. Either the little critters drowned, or they were scared right off me.”
Carla looked up at Megan and then felt her hair. “Neither am I … but we should be. Sarcoptes scabiei primus is not affected by water at all – in fact, bathing can cause them to burrow deeper, actually increasing the itching sensation.” She ran her hands through her hair, looking at her fingers, then scraped her scalp with her nails, turning them over to examine what was underneath them. She wiped them onto her palm and squinted at the debris.
Her hands were covered with what looked like soggy dust. “Dead.” She looked up again, but her focus had turned inward, analyzing, processing, and theorizing.
“Something in the water.” She smelt her hands. “Some sort of suspension – the floral dye, the flower pollen – an infusion of sorts. It must be the red-flowered vines; they’re everywhere, in everything in this place. Perhaps this plant type is exuding some type of natural insecticide or retardant.”
Matt snapped his fingers. “Of course; the pond we came through. It makes sense – remember the words carved in the stone? ‘Let not the unclean pass back to the land of man.’ The Ndege left the warning. They must have brought their kills back through the pond, drowning and soaking them, effectively sterilizing them of the mite.”
Kurt was craning his neck, looking back into the growing darkness. “Okay, good, we’re all clean. Let’s go. I don’t want to be near the water or out in the open anymore.”
Megan wrung out her hair and then staggered a little; still fatigued from the water. She shivered, even though the air was still around eighty degrees.
“Oh yeah.” Matt stuck a hand into his pocket, pulling out the sodden and punctured shirt. He held it out to her. “Quick thinking, by the way.”
Megan grinned and thanked him with a kiss. She lifted it, looking at the holes. “I was surprised it worked. What a mess … better it than me, though.” She draped it over her shoulders.
They set off, huddling close, following the wide track back to the camp. Matt’s mind whirled with the implications of what they’d discovered. He turned to Carla. “One thing I don’t understand; why did Jorghanson’s bird come back still infested?”
The CDC woman shrugged. “Don’t know. Maybe he kept it dry, that’s why it was alive when it arrived State-side.” She shrugged and gave him an exhausted smile. “No one left to ask. They’re dead … everyone is dead.”
*****
They jogged until night had completely descended, caution now slowing their pace. Kurt was out in front, followed by Joop, then Carla, John, Matt, and Megan. It would still be hours before they made it back to the spot where Jian and the women were attacked. The trip had been prolonged because they had chosen to skirt the open ground where the spiders waited in their burrows – they had been lucky once, but trying to cross in the dark would have been suicide.
A light came on. Joop had placed his flashlight band over his head and switched it on.
Kurt immediately swung at him, whispering through clenched teeth, “Turn that off!”
“Huh? But I can’t see.” Joop clicked it off, looking bewildered.
“Hey, easy – I was about do the same,” said John.
Kurt dropped his head and rubbed a hand through his damp hair. “Sorry, but in a jungle there are plenty of nocturnal predators, so a light is basically a dinner bell. I don’t think any of us would relish running into some abomination in the dark …” he glanced at Matt, “… without a gun.”
Matt grimaced – he had dropped it in the lake.
The pace slowed as the jungle thickened. They each reached out to the person in front to stay in contact. The sound of their heavy breathing was masked by the sounds around them – whoops, hissing, and distant thrashing as large bodies came together in courtship, pursuit, or death. It made them feel small, vulnerable, and alone.
They paused only briefly at the place where Jian was attacked. No one suggested they make camp anywhere but back at the pool, close to the deadly but protective cover of the thorn wall. There was little to salvage – already it looked like something had spent time investigating the contents of the abandoned packs and boxes. Carla retrieved a few samples, and then they set out again.
In another hour, Kurt stopped them with a raised hand. He pulled out his blade, letting it hang at his side, and half turned. “Joop, shine your light up here for a second.” He lifted the blade, pommel facing upward, and flipped the cap to examine the compass. Joop illuminated the small instrument.
“Hmm, hard to tell with this thing acting so screwy – I’m sure we’re going the right way, but we
’ve wandered off our original path. Two options – either we backtrack and see if we can find our previous route, or we continue.” He reached up and flicked Joop’s light off for him. “If we do continue, it’s going to be a little slower and heavier going.”
Carla stepped around Joop. “And if we go back?”
Kurt shrugged. “In the dark, there’s a chance we’ll miss it altogether. Swings and roundabouts, I’m afraid.” He paused. “Go, no go?”
The silence hung for only a few seconds. Carla nodded. “We go on … this way.” Heads nodded in agreement.
Kurt turned and pushed into the green growth again, keeping his large hunting knife in hand to slash or saw through tenacious vines and stalks. He chopped hard at a tangle of vines, pushed, and then tumbled forward into a small clearing. The group piled in behind him, but immediately froze as a strange smell enveloped them. Out of the dark came a rattling hiss.
“Ah shit, there’s something in here.” Kurt got slowly to his feet, holding out an arm to keep everyone behind him. He didn’t need to.
By now, their eyes had adapted to the dark, but some things gave off a soft phosphorescent glow. Leaves, bark, insects, and the occasional pair of silvery eyes shone back at them as they traveled. But now, hanging about three feet above the ground, was a dinner plate-sized cluster of glowing eyes, some the size of softballs, others much smaller.
“Permission to turn lights on?” Joop’s voice was soft and steady.
“Oh yeah … easy now.” Kurt held up his blade.
Immediately, several pipes of white light flashed bright. It was like a flashbulb going off, temporarily blinding them. A scrabbling in the bushes, and more hissing, drew them all in one direction.
“Oh, God no.” Another spider, the size of a dog, all leathery dark skin and hideously powerful, hung on a silken bag the size of a long knapsack.
“No one move.” Kurt spoke just above a whisper.
Matt gulped and felt Megan crowd in close to him. He doubted he could move even if he wanted to.
The spider repositioned itself, keeping its multiple eyes fixed on the humans. After another few seconds it seemed to relax and settled back down, inserting its fangs back into the silken bag. Its bulbous abdomen acted as a pump, drawing the liquefied contents up and out of the thing.
Joop swung his light along the length of the bag – something inside glinted.
“There’s something in there that looks synthetic … metal, I think.”
John turned his light on too, and the extra illumination provided another view of the prize the enormous Mesothelae nestled upon.
“Is that … is that a monkey in there?” Megan was leaning over Matt’s shoulder.
Kurt backed up, pushing into the group, his rugged features pulled into a grimace. “No, oh God no, I think … it’s Max.”
With all the lights focussed on the bag, its contents were now visible. A hideously dried skull and shoulders could be made out. The mouth was pulled open in a rictus scream, and a gold tooth could be seen just off to the side of the jaw.
The bag seemed to wriggle.
“Oh fuck no, fuck no, he’s alive.” Kurt gritted his teeth, shaking his head. “Help him … please.”
John shook his head. “Impossible. It’s just the spider … has to be.”
Carla leaned forward and grabbed Kurt’s arm. “He’s dead. There’s nothing we can do for him. Let’s go.”
The big guide let her ease him back, revulsion and anguish clear on his face.
Matt looked at the bag. He wasn’t sure whether the shrunken eyes actually swiveled to look at him. It must have been a trick of the light. But he remembered the small horse being alive when it was nothing but dry skin over bone. Carla could be wrong – Max might not be dead, but she was right about one thing: there was nothing they could do. This was not their world, and fighting one of its denizens in the dark and on its home turf would be beyond madness.
Matt paused as the group backed up – he wished he still had the gun, and just one bullet – not for the spider, but for Max. He stepped back, and the jungle closed over the grisly tableau. Kurt moved to the front of the group and paused for a moment, breathing in and out and settling himself. He turned on his own light and looked again at his compass, and then at his watch. “This way … we can’t be that far now.”
This time, Kurt didn’t ask for the flashlights to be switched off.
*****
It seemed like hours later that the noises of the forest started to quieten and the jungle thinned, signifying that they were close to the crater’s edge. The six of them staggered into the sterile moat of openness in front of the deadly thorn wall and fell to their hands and knees.
Kurt lay down and put his hands over his face, breathing heavily. “Fucking Max, oh God, I was supposed to look after him. It was my job to stay with him, and I left.” He rolled over and knelt, hands on his thighs, and stared blankly at the ground. “I fucked up, and now Max is dead.” He crushed his eyes shut.
“Hey … hey!” Matt sat up. “If you had stayed here, then maybe Max would be alive. But maybe Megan, Carla, and the rest of us would be dead somewhere out in that infernal jungle.”
Kurt continued to shake his head, and lifted one large arm to wipe his nose. “I fucked up.”
“No, he did.” Carla propped herself up on one elbow. “You saved us; you did the right thing. Max should have been with us. From what you’ve told me, it was his choice to stay here.”
After a few moments, Kurt gave her a brief nod. He took out his water bottle and poured some over his face. “I can officially say, that is the worst damned bit of jungle I’ve ever had the misfortune to live through.”
“Nah, I’ve been in worse.” Megan sat forward, managing to keep a straight face for about three seconds. Kurt tossed his bottle at her.
Carla crawled across to the cage and peered inside. The bird hissed back at her. She squinted, examining the animal in detail.
Matt sat up and leaned forward, letting drops of perspiration fall from his brow. He scratched his skin and winced. “I’m itchy again.”
“Yep, the jungle is crawling with the mite. The hike back probably reinfested all of us.” Carla was finger-combing her hair, then looking at her hands.
Matt got to his feet. “Time for a test, then.” He walked to the pond and slid in, fully clothed. He lay on his back for a few moments before letting out a long and soothing, “ahhh”. He ducked under again, and rubbed his scalp before rising from the water’s edge, his long hair slicked back. He stood with his arms spread.
“Unless the little buggers are holding their breath, I don’t feel them anymore.”
“Good enough for me.” Kurt leapt in, followed by Joop. John waded in with a little more dignity, while Megan chose her characteristic bomb, red water exploding over the pool’s edge and spreading about twenty feet. Even Carla, who looked ready to drop from exhaustion, climbed in, a grin splitting her face.
Kurt hovered on the surface. “Damn, that’s good.” He turned to Matt. “Get the kits. We’ll swim through to the other side tonight and make camp over there. I’ve had enough of this mad prehistoric game park.”
“Works for me.” Matt wandered over to where he had left his gear and knelt, flipping open his bag. He frowned, and blinked. His pack was empty. He looked around for a second or two, checking to see if the face mask had somehow rolled free. Did he take it out before he left? He shook his head, and pointlessly checked some of the smaller pockets.
“What’s going on here?” He looked up to where Megan was at her own kit. “Megs, did I … did I give you my breather?”
Megan shook her head as she looked in her own bag. She snorted in confusion, her brow furrowed. “That’s weird; mine’s gone as well.” She stood, pinching her bottom lip, staring at the empty bag.
“Oh, shit no.” Kurt charged from the pool and hurriedly opened his own bag. After few seconds of rummaging he flicked the top down hard and stood with his hands on his
hips, looking like he was about to stomp his feet. He stared up into the now ink-black canopy.
“Fuck!” His roar echoed along the crater wall. After another few seconds, Kurt lowered his head, eyes closed, and breathed slowly out through his nose. He opened his eyes.
“Anyone … anyone still have their mask?”
Carla held one up. “Yes – I kept it with me.” She checked the gauge on the side of the small canister. “But it’s only half full.”
“Great – we’re fucked.” Kurt rubbed his brow hard. He looked at the ground and shook his head. “We have to go back.”
“Go back? What are you talking about? Go back where?” Megan was on her feet.
Kurt kept his head down. “Max must have taken them.”
“Like hell we’re going back. I didn’t see any pack full of masks back at the spider’s lair, did you?” Matt couldn’t help his voice rising.
“Well, I’m not going … no one is.” Megan marched over to the edge of the jungle, staring out into its blackness.
Kurt was still staring at the ground. “Believe me, it’s the last thing I want to do. He must have taken them, there was no one else.” He looked up at Megan, and then to the others. “I’ll go alone.”
“Why? I mean, why would he take them?” Megan asked over her shoulder.
“Who knows? Maybe to keep them safe; maybe to ensure we didn’t go without him. Maybe just to fuck with us.” Kurt ran his hands through his wet hair. “We know where he is.”
“No way, Kurt. We’ve already lost two people in here. There’s no way we’re throwing more lives away. There’s no way Max would have dragged a kit full of face masks through the jungle just because he wanted to keep them safe. If he took them – and that’s a big if – my guess is he would have hidden them … close by.”
Kurt shrugged. “Maybe.”
Carla held up her mask. “Could we buddy-breathe? Share the air and go through one at a time?”
Kurt shook his head. “There’s six of us – not enough air for all of us to make it. I’m not even sure there’s enough for you.” He gave her a weak smile. “One of us could try. But it’s a one-way deal … and we wouldn’t know if they’d made it or not.” He walked to the jungle’s edge. “If there was food in the bag, then something might have dragged it away.”
