Deep In The Jungle Page 12

  “What, like maybe these creatures were trapped underground and suddenly they’re free? I doubt it.”

  “What if it was a radioactive meteor?” Ryan said. “You know, like in Slither.”

  “Don’t forget The Blob,” Jackie added.

  “Sounds like you guys have been watching too many movies,” Frank said. “Whatever it is that’s causing these mutations, let’s just hope that we don’t have to deal with any more.”

  “Well, I don’t see any reason to just stand around,” Wanda said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “I’m for that,” James said.

  “Thank God,” Kathy piped in.

  “So which way?” Ryan asked.

  Frank looked down at his wristwatch and then raised his hand with his index finger pointed up. “Wait for it.”

  Everyone stood quietly and listened.

  The siren was faint but it gave them a direction to go.

  46

  Frank sliced through the ferns and stepped out onto the edge of a towering bamboo forest. The ten-inch diameter stalks had to be a hundred feet tall. The timber was clustered tightly—no more than shoulder-width—leaving just enough space for a person to step through.

  “Did you know that a bamboo plant can grow thirty-six inches in a twenty-four-hour period?” James said as he and Kathy admired the grove of pole-like trees.

  “Really, wow,” Wanda said. She craned her head back, looked up, and fell backward.

  Frank caught her. “Careful.”

  “Sorry, I got a little dizzy.”

  Ryan, Jackie, and Ignacio gazed at the tan-colored bamboo maze.

  “Looks like a tight squeeze,” Jackie said.

  “We should be able to get through,” Frank said. “Plus, we have these.” He waggled his machete.

  “Bamboo hard wood,” Ignacio said, shaking his head.

  “Then I guess I won’t need this.” Frank put the machete away in the sheath strapped to his rucksack.

  Frank led the way as they threaded through the giant stalks. As he had the broadest shoulders, it was a given if he could fit, so could the others.

  “This must be the most inhospitable place on the planet,” Wanda said.

  “Well, the conquistadors from the Old World didn’t think so, at least not at first,” Frank said over his shoulder. “They believed that there were riches galore, gold and treasures ripe for the taking. Then the New World explorers started dropping like flies from dysentery and malaria or were being killed by the so-called savages.”

  “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

  “Teddy Roosevelt tried taming the Amazon. The only thing it got him was an infected leg and a bad case of malaria. Five years later he was dead.”

  The forest ahead stretched so far back that the overlapping stalks gave the false impression that there was a solid wall.

  Frank could look to the right and the left and each time see the edges of the cane forest, as it was only forty yards across.

  Jackie was the first to see them. “Over there.”

  Frank turned around and saw that everyone was staring in the direction Jackie was looking.

  “Tell me those aren’t aphids?” Wanda said.

  “That’s what they are,” Frank confirmed.

  They were purplish-red—and the size of sheep.

  James and Kathy murmured something to each other.

  Frank was so used to observing them with a magnifying glass or under a high-power microscope. Seeing them this big was amazing. He considered taking a closer look then quickly changed his mind.

  “Everyone, keep your voices down,” Frank said when he saw another creature walk up behind the small group of docile plant lice.

  “My God,” Jackie said, trying to contain her astonishment.

  The ant was huge—at least three feet tall at its shoulders and six feet long from its claw-like jaws to the tip of its gaster.

  With its head down, the giant ant came up behind the last aphid and nudged it forward. The trailing aphid bumped into the others and they moved a few feet before stopping again.

  “Did I just see what I thought I saw?” Wanda whispered to Frank.

  “You did. Aphids are sometimes called ant cows because certain ants gather them up in herds so they can milk the bugs for honeydew. Some ants don’t know when to quit eating and get so bloated they can’t walk. Then the honey pot ants become a nice little smorgasbord for the other ants.”

  “That’s disgusting,” Wanda said.

  “Maybe so, but we have a bigger problem,” Frank said, making sure the others could hear him. “That’s a bullet ant.”

  “Are you sure?” James asked.

  “Please tell me you’re wrong,” Kathy said.

  “I’m certain.”

  “Why do they call it a bullet ant?” Wanda asked. “Because of the shape of its head?”

  “I wish. No, it’s because of its stinger,” Frank said, facing Wanda.

  “You mean that thing has a stinger?”

  “That’s right. Normally, bullet ants are only an inch long. Get stung by one that size and it feels like you’ve just been shot. Hurts like hell for a day or so. I’ve gotten stung enough times.”

  “Oh my God, but this one is huge. That would be like...”

  “I don’t think we want to find out.”

  “Guys, keep it down, I think it knows we’re here,” Ryan said.

  Frank turned.

  The bullet ant was no longer tending to its flock; it was entering the bamboo forest, and it was managing to slip its way through.

  “Okay, everyone. Move it,” Frank said. He stepped in and around each stalk blocking his way wishing he could run but it was impossible as some of the time he could barely fit between the close-growing timbers.

  He looked back and saw everyone else struggling.

  The giant ant was having trouble as well, as it couldn’t fit its body between some of the stalks.

  “Hurry!” Frank yelled when he saw Kathy starting to fall behind. She had snagged her backpack on the knotty edge of a bamboo tree.

  “Don’t panic,” Frank said. “It can’t get at you.”

  Just as Kathy freed her pack, the giant ant used its jaws and bit right through one of the thick stalks. The severed portion of the trunk fell to the ground and the bamboo tree toppled over, crashing against the other trees.

  The new opening was enough for the giant ant to wedge through. It came up behind Kathy, gripped her tightly with its legs then curled its abdomen up and jabbed her in the back with its deadly stinger.

  She screamed as though she were on fire then went limp as a rag doll.

  The bullet ant lifted the dead woman up with its two front legs, and with its jagged-edged mandibles, bit off her head.

  “You son of a bitch!” James yelled.

  Wanda pulled her sidearm and fired, but it was near impossible to get a good shot with all the bamboo stalks in the way, so the bullet missed.

  “No, no...” James dropped to his knees and wept.

  “Ryan, get him up. We have to go,” Frank said.

  The bullet ant had turned and was heading back to where it had left the small band of aphids.

  Everyone kept up as Frank dodged through the maze.

  “So Frank,” Wanda said, staying on his heels. “What the hell is this place? Certainly no world we’ve ever seen.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. Keep running!”

  47

  As soon as Macky stepped out of the jungle and saw that they were finally back at the resort, he hollered at the top of his lungs, “We made it!”

  “Thank God,” Ally said. “I never want to do that again.”

  “What do you mean?” Dillon said. “I got to play with a baby alligator and a baby pig.”

  “Peccary,” Macky corrected.

  “Whatever.”

  “Let’s look around and see if we can find Murilo. I sure hope he’s not out on the river looking for us.”

  “I’d
feel really bad if he is,” Ally said.

  They walked onto the resort’s grounds and noticed that some of the debris had been cleared away but not all of it.

  “It looks like Murilo got some of it done then stopped,” Ally said.

  “Must have realized we were missing.”

  “I know he didn’t want us to, but I think we should help with getting the resort back in order.”

  “I agree,” Macky said.

  “But first, I need a shower.”

  “I think we all do. You two go ahead. I’m going to look for Murilo. Maybe he’s here somewhere.”

  Ally and Dillon climbed the stairs up to the catwalk and went into their bungalow.

  An hour later, Ally and Dillon came out of their room, refreshed but already perspiring despite having just bathed.

  Macky was standing on the catwalk, waiting. He was wearing a change of clothes and his hair was damp from his shower.

  Ally looked around. “I take it you didn’t find Murilo.”

  “I looked all over,” Macky said. “There’s no sign of him.”

  “I wish there was a way we could contact him.”

  “Guess we’ll just have to wait until he comes back. Here, I found these in a storage shed.” Macky was holding two wide-brimmed brooms. He handed a broom to Ally.

  “Where do we start?”

  “Probably works better if we sweep off the catwalks and let everything fall down on the ground. Then we can drag it over to the trees. That was the way Murilo was doing it.”

  “Makes sense. We don’t want to keep going up and down the stairs carrying this junk.”

  “What am I supposed to do?” Dillon asked.

  “It won’t hurt you to help,” Ally told her younger brother.

  “But I’ll get dirty.”

  “Like that’s ever stopped you.”

  “You know, Dillon, after we’re done, I think there’s some ice cream in the resort’s kitchen.”

  “Really?”

  “That’s what I’m thinking. So what do you say?”

  “Okey dokey,” Dillon said. “I’ll help.”

  Ally smiled and patted her brother on the back. “Good job, Dilly. The sooner we’re done, the sooner you get ice cream.”

  She took her broom and began sweeping the debris off the decking while Macky went over to the adjacent catwalk and began clearing off the fallen branches and anything that was dead.

  Dillon tagged along behind Ally, kicking whatever Ally had missed over the side.

  A short while later, they were down on the ground, collecting debris and making trips to the jungle’s edge.

  Ally and Dillon were carrying a tree branch together, her at one end, Dillon at the other.

  “We’re almost there,” Ally said, noticing that Dillon was struggling with his end.

  She had her back to the jungle and could hear something moving in the underbrush.

  Ally turned. “Hold it, Dillon,” she said, and dropped her end.

  “Hey, we’re almost there.”

  “Quiet.”

  “But Ally—”

  “Shhh!”

  Ally stared at the dense foliage. “Macky, is that you?”

  There was no reply, only the sound of a large creature moving about.

  Ally took a step back and grabbed Dillon’s hand. “I think we’re done for now. How about we go have that ice cream?”

  “I want Rocky Road.”

  “Sorry, kid. You get what you get.”

  Ally moved back slowly and when she thought they were close enough to the stairs, she pulled Dillon and they dashed up to the catwalk.

  Macky was coming in their direction, the broom handle draped over his shoulder. “You guys done?”

  “Yeah, we’re done,” Ally said. “Let’s go get some ice cream.”

  48

  Ryan and Jackie did their best to console James, but he was pretty broken up about Kathy. How would he be able to explain her death to her parents? She had been killed by an ant, which sounded totally ludicrous if not unbelievable.

  It was impossible to retrace their footsteps and they had taken a roundabout way returning to the rescue boat. Frank was fairly certain they were going the right way.

  Wanda thought they must have taken a wrong turn, especially when they reached a narrow river.

  Frank studied the water. It was about fifty yards to the opposite bank. He had no idea how deep it was or if they could even wade across. “I’m pretty certain this is the way.”

  “Are you sure? We never crossed a river before,” Wanda said. “That I would remember.”

  “Probably due to the last rain we had. Tributaries get clogged and get rerouted and before you know it, the floodwaters have formed another river. Which is probably what happened here.”

  Ignacio stood next to Frank and gazed out over the water.

  “What do you think?” Frank asked the resort guide. “Think we can get across?”

  “Maybe over there,” Ignacio said, pointing to the narrowest point where the tops of submerged bushes were sticking out of the water. “Shallower there.”

  “Good eye, Ignacio. Come on everyone. That’s where we’re crossing.”

  Frank went over and stood at the water’s edge. Wanda was right behind him, then Ryan and Jackie, James, and Ignacio taking up the rear.

  Stepping into the water, Frank took his time as he tested the river’s bottom. His boots came down on jumbled rocks. He was thankful that it wasn’t boggy, which would make the crossing impossible, as their boots would get stuck in the mud.

  “The bottom’s pretty firm,” Frank said over his shoulder and waved for Wanda to follow him.

  One at a time, the rest of the group entered the water single file and followed Frank. The ones with weapons held their firearms over their heads so they wouldn’t get wet.

  By the time Frank got halfway across, he was up to his chest. He looked back at Wanda, who was nearly up to her chin.

  “I hope this is as deep as it gets,” Wanda said.

  Frank took another step and felt the sole of his boot hit a slight incline. “It’s sloping back up,” he assured everyone.

  Wanda turned her head and looked down the river. “Frank! What the hell is that?”

  Frank glanced in that direction.

  “That can’t be right,” Ryan said, spotting the triangular shape knifing through the surface.

  “Oh my God,” Jackie shouted. “There’s another one.”

  “And more over there!” James yelled.

  Frank counted seven shark fins. “Hurry, we have to get out of the water.”

  “They can’t be sharks,” Wanda said as she scrambled behind her husband.

  “They’re bull sharks.”

  “But I thought sharks only lived in the ocean.”

  “Not these. They thrive in freshwater.”

  The lead shark came in first, its bull-shaped body visible even under the brackish water. Frank aimed his rifle and fired, striking the bull shark in the back. The massive fish took an evasive turn and disappeared under the water.

  Everyone began splashing as they pushed through the water to get to the other side, the vibrations only causing the four-hundred-pound sharks, some of them ten feet long, to go into a feeding frenzy.

  Frank made it up, reached back, and pulled Wanda onto the shore.

  Ryan and Jackie were the next ones out of the water. Ryan extended his hand and helped James out.

  But Ignacio wasn’t so lucky. Two of the sharks had cut him off and had butted him with their snouts while another one came from behind and grabbed hold of his leg.

  Ignacio screamed as the sharks converged and ripped at his body. Their tails thrashed in the water as they pulled him under. Massive gouts of blood bubbled to the surface.

  There was nothing any of them could do but watch the horror. And even that was too much to bear.

  “What is it about this damn jungle?” Wanda said to Frank. He could tell she was royally pissed. />
  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean really, freshwater sharks?” she growled. “What, it thinks it can just keep changing the rules?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Frank said.

  49

  Ever since leaving the river and hiking for more than three hours, Frank hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Ignacio’s tragic death and the giant bullet ant that had killed Kathy. And why had there been only one ant? Ants were social and generally traveled in numbers, especially when they were scouting for food to bring back to the colony. He wondered how the colony would react when the lone ant dragged in Kathy’s mutilated body.

  “Frank?”

  He felt a hand on his shoulder.

  “Frank!”

  “Huh?” He turned around and saw Wanda staring at him with a puzzled look.

  “I’ve been calling your name but you just keep walking.”

  “Sorry, I was just...”

  “Kathy and Ignacio, I know. Can we take a little break?”

  “Sure.” Frank stopped and signaled to the others to take a short rest. He took off his pack and found a place to sit. Jackie sat with James, as he was still distraught over Kathy’s vicious death. Ryan came over and sat next to his mother.

  “Do you think we’ll see more of those giant ants?” Ryan asked Frank.

  “I don’t know.”

  “So what would be the best way to kill them, if we were attacked?”

  “A big can of Raid,” Wanda said.

  “A very big can.” Frank smiled then let his face go somber. “No, seriously, it’s good to know your opponent. Ask any fighter that goes into the ring. Ants have the advantage over us as they have exoskeletons and very sharp mandibles. They have an extremely acute sense of smell, touch, and taste and communicate by releasing pheromones. You can’t stab them in the lungs because they don’t have any. They breathe through tiny holes in their exoskeletons called spiracles.”

  “Okay, we can rule that one out,” Ryan said.

  “Forget about puncturing a main artery. They don’t have veins like us; blood just flows freely through their bodies.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  “They have a long tube that pumps blood through their bodies and a single nerve that controls their motor functions. Sever those, you might get lucky.”