“Wake up! Wake up! There’s some coming now,” Stapp hush-whispered as he pushed and rocked the sleeping body of Errol. Errol woke fast, took a few frantic double-takes at Stapp before hearing the rustling through the leaves, and began to howl and grab his knee.
The strangers, carefully checking out the camp, were drawn into the clearing at the sound of Errol’s outburst.
“Ooohhh sheeeeit!” Errol concluded his yelling as the newcomers sidled in.
“Oh my, folks! Thank God – or at least I hope. Are you coming peacefully? Oh Lord, please be peace!” Stapp rambled dramatically.
The outsiders were two young brown-haired, olive-skinned women and a pale man with longer hair than his companions. The man and the taller gal had thick-rimmed glasses and backpacking packs taller than themselves. The other woman pulled out her glasses to look closer at the problem. Her glasses seemed a bit oversized for her petit face.
“No worried, man!” the lanky dude assured Stapp slowly with his palms forward. “We’re scientists, just cruising through. No politics – we just want to, to help. Yeah?” he said slowly to make sure they got it.
Stapp played dumb, looking wary as the little lady approached Errol on the ground, “I’m Jean – where is it – bad?” She wasn’t sure how to help.
Errol rolled up his pant leg and showed the beautiful stranger a mangled, festering wound on his knee bubbling with pus. It looked fresh, but still set in. Reds, green, browns, yellows, and thin lines of purplish-black ran through the gash and up and down Errol’s leg. It had the surface area of a pomelo and nearly the volume. It looked like it had been eating through the leg viciously and the rest looked minutes from total dismemberment.
Jean stepped back out of the wound’s range while her friends gasped. Errol gave a visible sigh to which Stapp responded with more small talk:
“It’s damnable alright, ain’t it? But hey, we really need your help – Errol here does, that is… Uh…” he had run out of bullshit. They were getting uneasy, ready to bolt! Stapp escaped his stammer just in time, “ I-i-I I mean look at the poor old sap, can’t you use some science… on the knee there? He really needs your science. Eh? Ya bunch of scient –“
“Alright, we get it,” said the last to speak of the bunch. Black hair framed her black eyes and silent face. She took off her bag. “We’re not doctors, though. We probably can’t do shit. I’m a plant biologist.”
“BIOLOGY! How USEF—“ Stapp stopped before he realized he was being condescending. He changed his tone, “—fulll to us! Because this came – this owund came – from some WILD –uh- Venus Fly-Traps! Oh damn this is some hot weather causing all these—“
“You’re lying. We get it. You’re a terrible liar, too, man. What do you want from us, ‘cause I’ll fuck you both up.” She whipped out a Baretta and pointed it at Stapp.
“Woah, lady, I ju—“
“Cut the shit. What do you want?” She moved the pistol to point at Errol on the ground. “You got any answers?”
“We just-ju-ju-jud-just wah-“
“We wanted you to take a look, that’s all!” Stapp came in for the save.
“My ass. You’re conning us.” She stepped to the man on the ground, avoiding the living knee and grabbed his shirt collar, pointing the gun into his face. “What, the, fuck, are you trying here?”
Errol started bawling into the gun’s barrel. Stapp tried to step in but the young woman pistol-whipped him on his neck without hesitation, knocking him to the ground. She put the barrel back into the line of tears streaming down Errol’s nose and waited until he found a breath in his panic.
“W-we just need y-you to look at it … You look at it that’s all. That’s all there is. Then we free to go, then we leave and go…” Errol lost his cool again and got hysterical.
Her companions were holding Stacy’s bag ready for her to get it back on.
“C’mon, Stacy. Let’s go, now. Fuck these guys,” they muttered nervously.
“No. I want to know. I’m tired of these tweakers everywhere these days.” She released her grip on Errol’s collar, dropping his upper body back to the floor. Then she shifted her position to look closer at his leg and took a squat as she exhaled.
It was still bubbling as she descended. The rot seemed to be morphing: a bubble popped and a faint sizzle was emitting from where Errol’s knee cap would have been. Stacy hunched over it for 10 seconds or so; she arched and craned her neck around to get the whole picture. It was all the same: disgusting.
“No plant did this. No help I can give. Looks like you’re gonna die, dick-weed,” she declared victoriously as she rose to standing.
But the knee was already looking better. It was more whole and less overcome. The wound had seemingly risen off the leg revealing healthy tissue that had been lost before. And yet the wound was still active and hadn’t lost size. It steamed as it warped and withdrew from its stranglehold on Errol’s knee.
“Lord have mercy,” Errol said dully right as the fester collected itself fully and jumped across the gap to Stacy’s shin.
“AAHHHghghhh,” the scientists quelled as the wound began to settle into its new home. It migrated north to her knee and dropped its bags – reaching spindly black up and down the leg. Stacy, overcome by pain and weakness, dropped to her other knee. She looked back up at the boys. They were both standing now. She pointed the gun back and forth frantically.
“GET IT OFF! Get this,” she looked down and screamed again, “FUCKING thing off right now. DAMNIT! I’ll kill you both you fuck-worms!” Her voice was hoarse and vile.
“W-we…”
“We got nothing lady. We got it same as you did. You got to get it off yourself with some more folks. Or trade it around with each other if it’s taking too long and your leg’s about to fall off.
Stapp started walking away, but Errol stood still looking at the terrified women. He shook his head sad as hell.
“We didn’t do this to you lady. I’m sorry it happened like this.”
Errol turned to catch up with Stapp. Stacy was out of argument. She lowered the pistol and collapsed.
The strangers, carefully checking out the camp, were drawn into the clearing at the sound of Errol’s outburst.
“Ooohhh sheeeeit!” Errol concluded his yelling as the newcomers sidled in.
“Oh my, folks! Thank God – or at least I hope. Are you coming peacefully? Oh Lord, please be peace!” Stapp rambled dramatically.
The outsiders were two young brown-haired, olive-skinned women and a pale man with longer hair than his companions. The man and the taller gal had thick-rimmed glasses and backpacking packs taller than themselves. The other woman pulled out her glasses to look closer at the problem. Her glasses seemed a bit oversized for her petit face.
“No worried, man!” the lanky dude assured Stapp slowly with his palms forward. “We’re scientists, just cruising through. No politics – we just want to, to help. Yeah?” he said slowly to make sure they got it.
Stapp played dumb, looking wary as the little lady approached Errol on the ground, “I’m Jean – where is it – bad?” She wasn’t sure how to help.
Errol rolled up his pant leg and showed the beautiful stranger a mangled, festering wound on his knee bubbling with pus. It looked fresh, but still set in. Reds, green, browns, yellows, and thin lines of purplish-black ran through the gash and up and down Errol’s leg. It had the surface area of a pomelo and nearly the volume. It looked like it had been eating through the leg viciously and the rest looked minutes from total dismemberment.
Jean stepped back out of the wound’s range while her friends gasped. Errol gave a visible sigh to which Stapp responded with more small talk:
“It’s damnable alright, ain’t it? But hey, we really need your help – Errol here does, that is… Uh…” he had run out of bullshit. They were getting uneasy, ready to bolt! Stapp escaped his stammer just in time, “ I-i-I I mean look at the poor old sap, can’t you use some science… on the knee there? He really needs your science. Eh? Ya bunch of scient –“
“Alright, we get it,” said the last to speak of the bunch. Black hair framed her black eyes and silent face. She took off her bag. “We’re not doctors, though. We probably can’t do shit. I’m a plant biologist.”
“BIOLOGY! How USEF—“ Stapp stopped before he realized he was being condescending. He changed his tone, “—fulll to us! Because this came – this owund came – from some WILD –uh- Venus Fly-Traps! Oh damn this is some hot weather causing all these—“
“You’re lying. We get it. You’re a terrible liar, too, man. What do you want from us, ‘cause I’ll fuck you both up.” She whipped out a Baretta and pointed it at Stapp.
“Woah, lady, I ju—“
“Cut the shit. What do you want?” She moved the pistol to point at Errol on the ground. “You got any answers?”
“We just-ju-ju-jud-just wah-“
“We wanted you to take a look, that’s all!” Stapp came in for the save.
“My ass. You’re conning us.” She stepped to the man on the ground, avoiding the living knee and grabbed his shirt collar, pointing the gun into his face. “What, the, fuck, are you trying here?”
Errol started bawling into the gun’s barrel. Stapp tried to step in but the young woman pistol-whipped him on his neck without hesitation, knocking him to the ground. She put the barrel back into the line of tears streaming down Errol’s nose and waited until he found a breath in his panic.
“W-we just need y-you to look at it … You look at it that’s all. That’s all there is. Then we free to go, then we leave and go…” Errol lost his cool again and got hysterical.
Her companions were holding Stacy’s bag ready for her to get it back on.
“C’mon, Stacy. Let’s go, now. Fuck these guys,” they muttered nervously.
“No. I want to know. I’m tired of these tweakers everywhere these days.” She released her grip on Errol’s collar, dropping his upper body back to the floor. Then she shifted her position to look closer at his leg and took a squat as she exhaled.
It was still bubbling as she descended. The rot seemed to be morphing: a bubble popped and a faint sizzle was emitting from where Errol’s knee cap would have been. Stacy hunched over it for 10 seconds or so; she arched and craned her neck around to get the whole picture. It was all the same: disgusting.
“No plant did this. No help I can give. Looks like you’re gonna die, dick-weed,” she declared victoriously as she rose to standing.
But the knee was already looking better. It was more whole and less overcome. The wound had seemingly risen off the leg revealing healthy tissue that had been lost before. And yet the wound was still active and hadn’t lost size. It steamed as it warped and withdrew from its stranglehold on Errol’s knee.
“Lord have mercy,” Errol said dully right as the fester collected itself fully and jumped across the gap to Stacy’s shin.
“AAHHHghghhh,” the scientists quelled as the wound began to settle into its new home. It migrated north to her knee and dropped its bags – reaching spindly black up and down the leg. Stacy, overcome by pain and weakness, dropped to her other knee. She looked back up at the boys. They were both standing now. She pointed the gun back and forth frantically.
“GET IT OFF! Get this,” she looked down and screamed again, “FUCKING thing off right now. DAMNIT! I’ll kill you both you fuck-worms!” Her voice was hoarse and vile.
“W-we…”
“We got nothing lady. We got it same as you did. You got to get it off yourself with some more folks. Or trade it around with each other if it’s taking too long and your leg’s about to fall off.
Stapp started walking away, but Errol stood still looking at the terrified women. He shook his head sad as hell.
“We didn’t do this to you lady. I’m sorry it happened like this.”
Errol turned to catch up with Stapp. Stacy was out of argument. She lowered the pistol and collapsed.
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