by Eric S Kim
“That’s one of the things I’m talking about.”
The Blackjacks used their flashlights to discover a group of plants that lived in the center of the water. There were five of them, and each of them had two giant leaves pointing downwards resulting in a horizontal slant. The core of the plant had a long red blossom that resembled a long and sharp claw that belonged to a wild animal. The plants were partially submerged in the water. They almost resembled open mouths peeking out of the pond.
Jerome whispered to his father, “What do you call them?”
Lionel remembered what they were. “They’re Clapping Birdtraps. They can swallow an entire eagle. They can even devour a deer if it follows its own ignorance.”
“Clapping Birdtraps?”
Otis pointed at the plants. “Do you see that owl?”
Jerome replied, “I do now.’
An owl had flown across the water and landed on one of the slanted leaves. The Blackjacks didn’t move or say a word.
Otis gave them more facts to feast on. “They’re have ‘Clapping’ in their names for a reason.”
The owl edged closer to the red blossom in the center.
“Once they get you, their leaves create this clapping sound.”
The owl let out a loud hooting call. But it didn’t have time to react to the Birdtrap’s swift attack. Both of the horizontal leaves closed around the owl and connected their tips to the top of the blossom. The entrapment did indeed produce a loud clapping noise. The Birdtrap then lowered itself into the water. It disappeared within seconds. The ripples in the water ended with its return to absolute stillness.
Otis concluded his brief narration. “They drag them down and drown them. They stay in the water to digest their prey.”
Lionel could hear Oswald murmur the words, “Poor soul.”
The captain asked Otis, “How many different kinds of these plants are there?”
Otis replied, “Close to a hundred. Just be thankful that I’m here to guide you.”
He walked away and headed toward a path that led away from the dirt road.
“At this point, we have to separate from this road. The only path we have now is the woods.”
Lionel followed him. “You better be correct on this, or else there will be consequences.”
Otis laughed. “You wouldn’t want to lose me at a time like this. You need me to show you the right way.”
“I meant when we get out of here. You better believe that Social Adjustments is the better option.”
Otis led the Blackjacks away from the unpaved road and deeper into the forest. But Lionel had to have one last look at the pond before he turned away. The Clapping Birdtrap was only a preview. If these mutated plants lived in the water, then there would be others that would live on land.
TWELVE
APRIL 19, 12:46 AM
A few of the younger Blackjacks had expressed their growing exhaustion with their vernacular, but Lionel had no interest in stopping for rest. None of them had carried excessive equipment. They only had their weapons in their holsters and their backpacks. This would be a weak comparison to what the special forces from the older generation had to carry during their own missions.
Otis led the Blackjack Troopers further uphill. They made sure that the bushes they brushed past were considered safe and free from fungi. Only one tree that stood in their way had a bad case of the Mareekis and nothing else. Lionel could hear Jerome telling a joke to his teammates about the thorns, but the punchline had been obscured by a lowered volume. The other Blackjacks had chuckled, nonetheless.
Otis had stopped walking for a moment.
Lionel asked, “What is it?”
Otis placed two fingers against his ear. “Do you hear that?”
Everyone else stopped moving as well.
Lionel heard something quite faint from the distance. It sounded like a man wailing in pain. Or rather, a mutated creature wailing in pain.
“What is that?”
Otis slowly looked around. “It’s still awake.”
“Who?”
“Not who. What.”
“Only one plant can make that noise. I can’t remember the name of it, but it sure gives me the creeps every time it screams out for a meal.”
Lionel turned around and asked Nick, “Find anything?”
Nick had used his portable radar system to detect any physical movement from a maximum of three hundred yards away”
But Nick replied, “I’ve got nothing. It’s too far away.”
Lionel said to Otis, “Make sure that it doesn’t detect us.”
“Oh, I’m sure it already has. And it’s just waiting for us to be oblivious to its presence. It can be located in the most unexpected places.”
“Do you know if this thing originated from the Sharp Claw experiments?”
Otis shook his head. “I’m not certain. But if it’s true, then I can’t blame them for abandoning the project altogether.”
Suddenly, Preston kept his attention on something that had grown on a fallen tree.
“Hey, look at that. Are those the mushrooms you’ve been talking about?”
Lionel and Otis stepped closer. A large group of blue-colored mushrooms had grown on the decaying surface. They resembled clean bulbs that would entrance a complete stranger with its neon-blue skin.
Otis didn’t allow the others to touch these mushrooms. “They are definitely Pelkitay. They are harmless on the outside, but don’t ever underestimate these things. Digest them and you will become a wandering soul in search of nothingness.”
Sabrina sounded disgusted. “You’re making me paranoid. I always like mushrooms on my pizza.”
Oswald did the unthinkable by opening his backpack and picking off several mushrooms from the tree.
Rebecca blurted, “No, wait! What are you doing?”
Oswald gave her a menacing grin. “The revenge of the future.”
Bryce grunted. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
But Oswald refused to have second thoughts. “Revenge.”
Lionel opposed it. “Oswald! Take them out of your backpack. We’re not bringing any of them to civilization.”
Oswald faked his mild whimper as he turned his backpack upside down and dropped the mushrooms onto the dirt floor.
“You’re no fun anymore, captain.”
Lionel stopped what he was about to say next. The scream that came from a distance had returned for an unexpected encore. Everyone pointed their flashlights to the left of them. So far, none of their lights had ensnared an unfamiliar figure from its hiding spot.
Nick informed his captain, “Still nothing. It’s got to be five hundred yards away or something.”
Jerome whispered to his father, “I think we should keep going.”
Lionel agreed. He said to Oswald, “Be sure to wash your hands before you do something. You still have particles on your skin and I don’t want you to digest them.”
Oswald’s grin had returned. “Thank you for caring, captain.”
Lionel led Otis and his teammates away from the both the mushrooms and the wailing noise.
1:43 AM
With only minimal experience in terms of hiking, Preston didn’t expect his feet to feel so sore after two hours of walking through the forest. His urge to just stop and take a rest had outgrown its original size. Even if he did stop, however, nobody would agree to his simple action. Most of the other Blackjacks appeared as if they could handle the long and continuous journey into an unknown realm. Only Jerome, Rebecca, and Elliott showed a few signs of exhaustion, such as taking long sips of their bottled water or even stifling a yawn. Preston would be the only one who would feel the pain the most. He shook off the thought of suggesting a break. He continued to stay in the single-file line of Blackjacks strolling through the forest.
He had other things in mind. With everything that he had become a witness to in Green Brigalvic, he never steered his thoughts away from a possibly dangerous discovery. Trees,
bushes, fungi, and even the grass could have hidden their special mechanisms for potential victims. These mutations kept him intrigued and gave him a better reason to stay awake. A monstrous fungus could strike if he had become oblivious to his surroundings.
The Blackjacks had finished making their ascent up a large hill. More and more trees stood in their way, with enough branches to partially shroud the moon when it was needed the most. So far, the distant wailing noise had stopped and didn’t make a return. Preston was thankful for the silence, though he still didn’t let go of his doubts. Perhaps the creature in the dark readied itself for its attack.
Lionel suddenly raised his fist, signifying the entire group to stop. Everyone became motionless. Preston, who stood in the middle of the line, couldn’t spot an obstruction that got in the way of the route.
He asked the Blackjack in front of him, “What’s going on?”
Rebecca was just as curious as he was. “I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s good.”
Both Lionel and Otis had already pointed their flashlights down on the floor. They moved the beams in different directions, mostly random. Otis said something to Lionel that Preston couldn’t hear.
After a few seconds of silence, Lionel turned around and warned the other Blackjacks. “Don’t touch the body.”
Preston had grown even more intrigued by what they had discovered. The long line had moved on. Preston drew closer to the exact spot that Lionel had first uncovered an unusual crime scene. He had to cover his nose because of the stench that came with it.
The skeletal remains of a fully grown human being had been discovered on the grass. The skeleton had stayed intact, but the clothes had been torn. The shirt and pants were shredded as they stuck to the bones, some of which still had bloodstains and even a piece of a rotten organ clinging on to the ribcage. Bits of yellow slime had also been clinging on to the bones. It was almost as if the body had disintegrated through a somebody’s digestive system.
Preston automatically assumed the most terrifying carnivorous plant imaginable. He looked around the forest, but didn’t find anything that could have resembled a plant capable of receiving nutrients from human flesh. He didn’t want to gaze at the skeletal remains any longer. He turned away and tried to forget about the stranger’s unfortunate demise. But he couldn’t.
Lionel didn’t lead his squad very far. By now, everyone used their flashlights to search for the other bodies that lay scattered around this particular area. There were more human skeletons that had similar features from the first one. Fully grown adults that and been reduced to bones and shredded fabric mixed with blood and slime. Most of them even had certain organs untouched in and around their ribcages. Some had backpacks and duffel bags lying around them. Lionel began to rummage through one of them, which had been free from blood and slime. He pulled out a notebook and flipped through the pages. Nick opened up a duffel bag and checked the contents inside. Otis and the other Blackjacks waited for new information that might prove to be vital to this quest. Lionel stopped at one of the pages near the middle of the notebook. He read through it with patience and without any regard with the bodies that lay before him. The other Blackjacks couldn’t ignore the corpses. Some of them, Preston included, covered their noses because of the unpleasant body odor that surrounded them.
Lionel closed the book. “These people used to be Failures. They must have been here since last Wednesday, because that’s the last day that’s been noted in this notebook.”
Victoria asked, “But what could have killed them? Surely, a carnivorous plant the size of a house must have been here, but there are none around.”
Lionel put away the notebook. “This is now an investigation. Find anything that could be relevant to this mission.”
The Blackjacks separated into smaller groups and checked everything that the Fail Faction had left behind before their deaths. So far, there must have been at least eight skeletons that lay on the ground. Preston, along with Nick and Elliott, investigated one of them. It was the one furthest away from the others. The three Blackjacks crouched down and examined both the skeleton and its backpack. Nick, who had kept his tactical vest on in the entire trip, had found several rations in the backpack, including fruit and a bag of beef jerky. Preston and Elliott couldn’t turn away from the corpse. The short shorts and the tank top, both tattered from top to bottom, could have given the impression that the skeleton used to be a woman. Everything about the bones had been the same as the previous ones, with blood and yellow slime attached to the stiff surfaces.
Elliott groaned. “I feel sad for these people. It just seems like they didn’t know anything about whatever devoured them in the first place.”
Nick scoffed at the younger Blackjack’s statement. “Sucks that they just couldn’t be smart.”
Preston could tolerate the smell a little more. “Let’s say that they did get eaten by some carnivorous plant. It couldn’t be your typical pitcher plant or Venus Flytrap. It’s got to be the size of a house or something. But I don’t see anything. There’s nothing but trees around here.”
Elliott stood up. “Maybe the plant can move. It could have five legs or something.”
Nick gave an almost arrogant laugh. “If that’s true, then I bet the Failures were scared shitless. I would’ve loved to see them get picked off one by one.”
He didn’t find anything else of value in the backpack. The three Blackjacks’ investigation had been cut short. Preston separated from the two and tried to find anything else that had been hidden from view in the bushes. But then, something about Oswald quickly grabbed his attention.
Oswald stood alone beside a tree. He didn’t say anything. He just had a shocked expression on his face. As Preston stepped closer, Oswald let out a slow gasp, which was convincing enough to be a genuine reaction.
Preston felt concerned. “What is it?”
Oswald pressed his finger up to his lips as a way to keep his teammate hushed. Preston waited for the answer. Oswald pointed his finger right above Preston, who turned around and observed something interesting about one of the trees standing beside both Bryce and Sabrina.
The bark appeared to be the same as the other pine trees in the forest. But it had only one difference. It was also moving slightly in different directions. It gave a slow swaying motion, as if it wasn’t inflexible at all. Preston raised his flashlight higher. The truth about the tree was right there in front of him. It wasn’t a tree. Instead of branches with leaves, the entire top half of the plant had long and straightened red sticks with black spherical tips. Almost like the glands of a sundew plant.
Preston’s eyes widened. He had realized what it truly was. And then, he realized that both Bryce and Sabrina didn’t move as the strange alien plant stood beside them.
“Guys! Look out!”
But they didn’t have time to even see what would attack them. The strange tree bent its top half, as if it had been made out of rubber. It quickly formed an upside-down U shape as it reached out for the two Blackjacks. Its straightened sticks acted as tentacles as they wrapped themselves around Bryce and Sabrina. The tentacles had seized their arms, legs, waist, and shoulders. They raised both of them off of the ground and unbent its bark once again, returning back to its straight vertical shape.
The other Blackjacks had already witnessed the attack. They stood back from the tree that ensnared their two teammates. Bryce and Sabrina’s frantic attempts to escape from the tentacles proved to be meaningless. Every time they moved their arms or kicked at the tentacles, more of them reached out and smothered their bodies. The tree had grown quite similar to the actions of a sundew with many of its tentacles overwhelming its prey.
Everyone else finally took their weapons out of their holsters and opened fire. They riddled the bark with bullets. A few of them shot the tentacles that reached out for their two victims. The silence had been disturbed by immediate gunfire. Victoria brought out her Paralyzer pistol and shot at the tentacles three times. The darts
caused the tentacles to loosen their grip on Bryce and Sabrina. Victoria opened fire three more times. The tree bent down and finally let go of Bryce and Sabrina. They landed on the dirt floor before Hector, Kurt, and Oswald brought them back up to their feet and pulled them away from the carnivorous creature. Fortunately, they didn’t sustain any major injuries.
Bryce clearly disliked this new experience. He grabbed his grenade launcher and pulled the trigger. The grenade shot out of the barrel and flew straight at the tree, leaving behind a thin trail of smoke. A direct hit led to an explosion that shook the carnivorous tree. Two more grenades struck the top of the tree. The explosions were enough for it to bend down and turn black all over. The tentacles stopped moving and hung from the tree, limp with no further movements. Bryce’s grenades had destroyed it completely.
Everyone had stopped firing. Plumes of smoke arose from the tree. The younger Blackjacks, including Preston, checked to see if Bryce and Sabrina had been harmed. Luckily, only a small amount of yellow slime stuck to Sabrina’s tank top and Bryce’s varsity jacket. It didn’t dissolve the fabric at all.
Otis had a big smile on his face. “Of course. The Kreto Vetril. That’s what they’re called. They hate the sunlight, so they only sprout at night. Once you step on the flowers surrounding it, it picks you up and never lets you go.
Bryce angrily shouted, “Was that enough for you to remember?!”
“At least you’re still alive.”
Sabrina fought against her fright as she wiped off the small patch of slime sticking to her tank top. “How many more of them are out there?!”
“Over a thousand, perhaps.”
Preston sighed. “So I guess that’s what killed these people, huh?”
Everyone tried to calm their nerves after their encounter with the Kreto Vetril. But the loud growling in the distance prevented them from even catching their breath. Everyone turned around and forgot about the dead tree for a moment. The flashlights revealed a starting image. The Blackjacks didn’t move. They didn’t pull the triggers. They had to gather their thoughts when the creatures of the night drew closer.
