CHAPTER NINE
Suddenly Avira wakes up from a lumped feeling of being nearly dead wondering happened to her earlier. She feels as if something had knocked the lights out of her completely. She gets up and looks around finally felling like she has the chance to search for her boyfriend Ryan. She opens the bedroom door and looks seeing absolutely nothing. She walks around with a limp to the other side of the bed and sees Ryan’s body lying there. She turns around and heads back towards the living room. When she gets there she sees the computer and wonders if there are any leads there. She turns the computer on and when the screen lights up she notices a difference to her appearance slightly, although she doesn’t give very much attention to it at the moment.
When she gets the computer on the clicks the start menu and clicks on the internet. The type in a few letters getting back history searches. She types in a letter “a” and sees the link to Avaris clothing. Confused she does more searches she types in a letter “e” and sees the link to the EPA closing ponds on Green Highway. She reads a few links and starts to feel a sense of the matter of circumstance.
Immediately she starts to gets images from an instinct that starts to come over herself. She feels that there is something more to what has happened and feels an insane and disturbing sense to just leave and discover things for herself right at the apparent moment. She grabs a few things and decides to leave and drive out to Green Highway to see if there’s anything out there to explain what has just happened to her with the mere attack. Now she drives away and heads for the ponds.
When she arrives at a nearby pond in between the tributaries that Avery has been occupying, she gets out of her car and heads towards the pond. She reaches the pond and walks in to boggy marshes with some bushes and trees growing forth all over the banks. There are many reeds sprawled out through the marsh. Immediately her pajamas are flowing with mud soaking wet. She hears some sounds coming from frogs and other night crawlers like owls and crickets making a slight background noise. She moves out in to the boggy marsh until she’s about waist deep standing alone. She feels her face with her hands while she’s trying to walk along in the boggy mud that rests at the bottom of the pond. Feeling her face still she notices some differences about her forehead being wider than usual with a more prognathic and defined.
She inspects the rest of herself the best she can looking for changes, although it’s too dark for her to really look at herself. After a few more moments go on by Avira see a bunch of waves moving in and out around her. Then she tries to focus and sees a school of Avaris swarm all around her with their tales swaying back and forth. Without hesitation she becomes completely motionless, except for her heart, trying to clear the confusion of what these creatures are that she sees swarming around her. To her they look like a bunch of little hammerhead sharks or some type of piranha.
It’s really frightening to her because at any moment they could start to nibble her to death at any second without any warning. Quickly she reaches for a tree and tries to climb out. She dangles there for a moment or so making her way out of the water before slipping and falling back down like a bird crash landing. Then she stands back up and see the Avaris still swarming. Trying to take a step to turn around, her foot sinks in the mud and she is stung a few times and falls in to the marsh face first and rolls over on her back. In fact it looks like she might even be dead by chance. For several minutes she lays there floating like a lingering lump of worm meat in the water before her rotten brains bring her out of it. While the Avaris continue schooling around her floating body, she wakes back up as if she was only fast asleep in a drifting daze. Quickly she stands back up as though the stings by the Avaris have had no effect on her.
She waves her hands back over the marshy water as her hand brushes up against the Avaris who have now accepted her as one of their own species being a friend of the nearby water offshoots. Feeling the instinct she screams and roars out really loud. The loud roaring scream is heard by Avaris Man who is now finished up with trying to cover up his attacks. Trying to make a home out of the tallest tree he could find along a bank within the swamp, Avaris Man feels the need to carry on with his instincts of evolution as he answers the screaming call.
Becoming frantically agitated and feeling nauseous she tries to turn around and walk back to shore. When she turns around the avaris swarm circles her repeatedly as she starts to notice a reversing affect happening from the venomous sting that have stopped penetrating her body as she enters the pond waters. The closer to shore she makes it the more the avaris act up with a frenzy splashing trying to catch her attention in some form of instinct. For some reason she seems to have a hypnotizing affect that has suddenly gripped and taken over her mind in some way. She tends to have a comfortable feeling which has come over her so quickly.
Then she sinks in to some mud slipping down a good foot or so. She scrambles to get back up slowly while trying to regain her step by pulling her foot out of the sunken mud below the pond surface above. After starting to regain her stance slowly while rising back on her feet, she hears a splash come from directly from behind her. She stops and looks as all of the avaris leave at a fast paced rate of darting off like something were approaching from nearby.
Looking around in a complete and uttered form of delusion, she feels a brush of water gush and flow fast like around her as something seems to be floating there below the surface. It seems to be right next to her leg in the four feet of marshy water she has lured herself in to. Obviously Avira is in Avaris Man’s mind by now as he suddenly pushes her feet toppling her over back in to the water. Quickly she falls as he moves over top of her pulling her in towards him for a closer look and examination of her identity. At first he smells her realizing that she has a familiarity about herself that he recognizes. In a dazed and confused state she tries to push away, although he takes her hands feeling a web like pattern emerging in between her fingers like conformity has begun to rapidly take place all of a sudden.
As things start to focus in her mind she looks at him realizing that he is the one from the apartment that attacked Ryan. She remembers his name barely as she faints and passes out tipping her head back from the entire amount over anxiety that has suppressed her. Avaris Man holds her up as she faints and falls back in a motionless state. Next Avaris Man swims off with her taken her to his favorite hide out that he has found just recently since he arrived last night. It also seems that morning may be coming soon so it’s time to settle in somewhere where he can remain out of site for now until he figures out what options he has so far.
Once he arrives at his destination, he carries her offshore to large opening in the underbrush he has discovered nestled underneath a large tree that is rooted along the bank. The trunk is pretty wide allowing Avaris Man some coverage directly behind. Once he makes his way to the backside he lays Avira down who is completely passed out and unconscious so to speak still at the moment.
After laying her down he brushes off her face which is covered in algae’s that are richly in grown at this marshy area of the tributary. A couple of more seconds go by as he continues to stare at her while inspecting the sting marks all over her body. Then he rubs his web like fingers through her hair noticing few bleeding scratches. Slowly he feels them over like he’s inspecting her brains and stops. Nevertheless it seems as though she isn’t really breathing really good and he hopes she isn’t dying or already dead. Quickly Avaris Man tries to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation while holding her nose with one hand. He tips her head back and performs the necessary steps to bring her back to breathing again.
It only takes one try or two before Avira come to choking and coughing up some water from her mouth which comes out with a chuckling gasp for air. Nevertheless she coughs for a minute or so before coming back to the realities of her conscious self which are at the time succumbed to the clutches of Avaris Man. After a couple of more coughs to clear her throat, she comes to with the first focus of her eyes on Avaris Man who is effervescently trying to make her as comfortable as he possibly can muster. He tries to do this without trying to startle her any more than he already has so far.
When she comes to she continues to cough as she sits up and tries to scoot away from him a foot or so trying to make a scoping projection of the outcome to this scene. Leaning back and away from him, Avira tries to regain her senses while catching her breath fully. She looks at her hands and arms noticing some stinging red marks that seem to be numb from pain, although the scars are plain to see.
Coming to her sense, Avira comments to him, “You’re that Avery from Ryan’s apartment, I looked on the computer and saw all of the links and came out here. It’s happening to me too, look at my hands, they have developed webbing between the fingers. When you attacked me something happened. It was like I was drawn to this place and couldn’t resist. Look at yourself; you have completely changed in to one of those things. What are those things that stung me all over? They look like sharks or something; they are all over the place.”
Avaris Man doesn’t really have the answers to what’s going on really. He answers back saying, “I don’t know what they are. Whatever they are they killed my friends and it has no effect on me or you obviously what so ever.”
Avira tries to comfort herself by rubbing her web like hands up and down each other trying to sooth the numb itching while ratting, “Where did they come from?”
Thinking back to the computer research that Ryan helped him with Avaris Man inquiries, “I’m not so sure; they could be a mutation from the algae that can attack a host such as a swimmer causing severe short term memory loss.”
Getting nervous while looking herself over, Avira says “What’s that supposed to mean?”
While waiting for an answer Avira notices that she seems to be slowly changing and adapting to the new conformity that is acting against her willpower according to nature.
Pondering over his mind what to say as a response to Avira’s question Avaris Man retorts, “That means we’re screwed because you’re already changing too, and there are scientists all over trying to kill these things and me with some toxins.”
Wanting to know how he is so positive about that, Avira responds, “How do you know?”
From a medium shot away with her point of view Avaris Man tells Avira, “Well, eventually the toxins will affect the pond killing off everything except the algae, I suppose!”
Becoming more sensitive to the situation Avira jargons, “I thought they were a mutation from the algae anyways?”
Trying to put his knowledge in to words even though everything he has contemplated is only a hypothesis, although his instincts tell him otherwise, Avaris Man jousts, “They are but eventually the toxins will kill the Avaris, or whatever they are, these creatures.”
Of course Avira is very smart considering that she knows what her name is closely related to when it comes to spelling. Bringing her knowledge to his awareness Avira quibbles, “Avaris, what kind of name is that? The species of bird is Avian. Haven’t you studied birds at all and ever had a parrot or something?”
Thinking back like he hasn’t had any big birds Avaris Man declares, “No, we only had cats mostly!”
Feeling like an expert on the subject Avira mentions, “Well, my parents had a couple of Jen Day Conures. In fact my parents sold them on an Avian Website a while back.”
Immediately appreciating the share of wits, Avaris Man says, “I didn’t know that, I guess. That’s something.”
Using her comic and humor Avira says, “Birds can land, but they can’t swim.”
With an image in mind Avaris Man thinks back adding, “I saw a Science Fiction picture of a fish with wings.”
Seeing the same kind of images before Avira says, “I have seen some pictures like that myself.”
Wanting to come up with some sense of what they are dealing with Avaris Man decrees, “Then what do you think they are swimming around out there. They look like small tropical hammerhead sharks or something.”
Thinking back to his original story he had told her before, Avira asks, “Whatever they are they killed your friends you said and they have had a mutating effect on us.”
“Didn’t they kill your friends you said,” Avira adds momentarily speaking.
“Yes, they killed three of them, although they still haunt me like an apparition or something.”
Avira thinks about many times she thought she was seeing things in her sleep or when she’s out and about telling him, “Well, it’s just a perception. I thought I have seen things in my sleep that weren’t there really. It was quite an anomalous experience you could say.”
Avaris Man thinks about a few experiences he has before these late occurrences have happened wondering, “Like an out-of-body-experience, so to speak?”
To her, Avira’s experiences were like Paranormal Dream that she would have and later they would come true in a sense. Bringing this reality to Avaris Man’s awareness, Avira comments, “I don’t know, it was sort of like these Paranormal Dreams I would have where something in the dream would come true I suppose.”
“Was this one of your dreams that came true?” Avaris Man asks Avira thinking about it with some curiosity.
Taking a deep breath while she notices more mutable changes come over her body she says, “Sort of, I had dream of swimming around with no sense of wonder. I felt like I was disconnected from society. The dream was a sort of Woman versus Nature type of scenario. This is where the struggles were a part of an unknown sense of reality. All I could do in the dream is swim and swim with no end to it. It was like an endless ocean with little patches of land that were scattered in to nothing.”
Feeling the same with a similar sense of being lost in to an unknown world, Avaris Man pronounces, “Same here, I feel like I have been forced to live in a swamped prison for the rest of my life or something.”
Avira goes further wondering what they are going to do now that she obviously in the same boat as he is right now asking him, “So what are we going to do now, I feel like a ghost or a trickster for some reason. Like a prankster whose life has only the purpose to antagonize people and ruin their lives.”
Avaris Man thinks about how he feels sort of contaminated like a poison has gotten under his skin and he is venomous to others in s mere sense. Talking to Avira he scrambles up, “I feel like a poison lurking around. I feel like a venomous creature that has no idea of how to adapt to these surroundings.”
Avira thinks about how eventually they will be seen or someone will come looking for them soon advising him, “Eventually they will come looking for you, although they don’t know about me yet. I wonder what will happen when they discover Ryan’s dead. Maybe they’ll just think I’m missing and my parents will put out an APB on me. My parents will eventually wonder where I’m at and start looking for me I bet.”
Avaris Man thinks about how his father may have done the same if the EPA wasn’t at his place the last time he tried to make his way there. Continuing on with the conversation Avaris Man announces, “My parents probably would have done the same if it wasn’t for the EPA stopping there!”
Avira thinks for a second before asking him, “How do you know that?”
Avaris Man thinks back for a moment relinquishing some words, “They were there when I headed back home after leaving the hospital. There were two of them talking to both of my parents!”
Wondering what may have happened Avira responds, “What do you think they said?”
With all kinds of stuff running through his scaly mind, Avaris Man says, “Who knows; my parents probably freaked out when they told them I escaped from the hospital, maybe.”
Thinking about her own parents, Avira retorts, “My parents will probably start looking for me in a few days or so, if not already!”
Becoming excessively nervous all of a sudden Avaris Man bursts out, “Great!”
Answering his preoccupied short sentence Avira asks, “What?”
With a mental image of his father out and about with a face of sorrow Avaris Man jousts, “My father, he probably went out looking for me after he went to inform everybody else’s parents.”
“Where are your friends; were they at the hospital too?” Avira queries trying to dig for more information from him while there conversing.
Blinking his eyes to erase the thoughts of their apparitions Avaris Man discloses, “No, they died during the attack!”
Avira is curious about how they died so easily considering a remark, “So they were affected I guess?”
Trying to pass the subject because it is bringing back his bad memories and bad emotions that he wants to try and forget he replies, “I suppose you could say that!”
Avira is curious to go further getting to know more questioning, “Well, what happened?
Keeping the story short and only to the point, Avaris Man explains with a few words, “They died in the frenzy of an attack you could say!”
Trying to picture it in her mind considering that she has already experienced the horror in real life, Avira comments, “I can image it must have been quite the experience for them. I can almost picture them in my mind even though I don’t even know them?”
With a slight of eye looking off in the other direction, Avaris Man adds, “Well, I always have them still in my mind. In fact they even haunt me sometimes, but not lately!”
Getting an even more inquiring notion, Avira speculates, “What do you mean, you can see their ghosts lurking around?”
Going back to the initial terror that followed previously before he made his way back out here, Avaris Man communicates to Avira, “Well, I can’t see them all of the time. Except for every once and a while they start to haunt and taunt me like it were some sort of revenge or something.”
Marveling at the scenarios he’s trying to describe to her in a visualize manner, Avira asks, “So what did they do to you that was so deliberately taunting. They’re dead now anyhow, like they really care……… I mean I wouldn’t care either if you would have killed me back there at the apartment.”
Becoming sort of agitated, Avaris Man exaggerates a line to Avira saying, “I catch the drift. They are pissed at me because it was my idea to go there and they blame me that they are dead from some freak of nature, and that’s why they attacked me a couple of times.”
Such as the feeling of slight boredom begins to overtake her making herself fidgety, Avira gobbledygook’s, “Basically, that’s a good way to look at it. Anyhow, let’s catch a drift elsewhere and explore this creepy land mark of ours.”
Avaris Man hesitates for a split moment as she starts to lunge forward commenting, “What about the scientists and their toxins?”
Avira isn’t too concerned about the scientists at this point in time, although she is more concerned about getting to know her new habitat. Disconcerting herself with anything else outside of the circle of a nearby water outlet Avira shrills, “Just take your mind away from all of them for now and let’s have a look around the swamp for a change.”
As he starts to follow her lead Avaris Man admits, “What’s there to see, everything looks the same everywhere?”
Nevertheless, she hesitates for a moment while thinking about the schools of Avaris that are probably lurking around still. Though she pauses, Avaris Man stops for a moment as well. Ready to take a first step Avira breaks saying, “What about those fish?”
Immediately Avaris Man gives her a slight shove as she nearly tumbles in to the water at the edge of the swamp, but maintains a steady balance and dives swirling out from the muggy bottom and back out staring him back down. Quickly she looks back at him probing, “What was that shove all about?”
Coming up with a pretty wise crack of an observation, Avaris Man answers back saying, “I was just trying to help you overcome your fears, that’s all. Lighten up!”
Avira defends her fears by telling him, “I’m lightened up, but you have been swimming with them all this time, I haven’t!”
Avaris Man realizes that they haven’t really been bothering him that much anymore saying, “They’ll stop bothering you after they sense the transformation!”
Staying in the water while looking out towards him, Avira responds asking promptly, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Avaris Man contemplates through his mind for an answer to tell Avira saying, “I don’t know, just at some point in time they didn’t bother me anymore. It was like they accepted me as one of their own. In fact, the ones that stung me swarmed around soothing the wounds once I returned”
Avira waddles her arms back and forth like she’s about to do the backstroke waddling, “Weird! Well, what are you waiting for then, jump in here!”
Avaris Man quickly dives in right over top of Avira’s head down about a fathom and swims underneath the surface of the pond until he makes his way about twenty five feet out passed her. Once she reaches the top he pokes his head looking back at her as she has already turned around approaching him. Quickly she passes along the side jousting, “Come on!”
Avaris Man turns around and follows commanding, “Let’s head over this way away from all of the scientists that are out looking for me!”
Avira turns heading another direction saying, “What’s over this way?”
Avaris Man follows from behind answering, “I haven’t gone that far out yet.”
Avira notices patches of lilies spawn across the top along with a slight path that looks like a trail for boats or perhaps people who have swam through. Feeling the urge to journey further Avira says, “Looks like others have swam or boated their way through here I bet.”
Avaris Man thinks about the couple that he terrorized and killed earlier trying to protect his new habitat from outsiders and intruders. Bringing the idea to mind Avaris Man shrills, “Maybe, I’ve seen a few stragglers closer to home earlier!”
Avira is sort of confused about what he’s trying to get at asking, “Where is home?”
Avaris Man explains what he means by telling her, “Well, I mean closer to base!”
Avira thinks about the other phrase he just said with confusion asking, “Where’s base?”
Avaris Man immediately realizes that she has no idea what’s really going on out here. Trying to bring a mental picture to mind, Avaris Man says, “Where’s base, that’s where the incident happened? They put up some sort of command center to monitor the pond. It seems they have done this before numerous times.”
Avira wonders what they are doing there asking, “I wondering what they are going to do after they try and expose of all of them.”
Avaris Man figures that they will try and search for him maybe carrying on with, “They’ll probably come after me I bet!”
Avira is sort of confused wondering what in the hell gives him that idea now questioning, “What gives you that idea?”
Avaris Man explains a little more thorough telling Avira, “Let’s just say, I had a little run in with them earlier when I returned to see what was happening out here. I was so curious that I just couldn’t resist the temptation. It was almost like I was instinctively drawn back out here for some unknown strange reason.”
Avira asks while they both swim through a wider path through the floating lilies querying, “What happened?”
Avaris Man goes further with the story saying, “One of the scientists snuck up from behind me while I was distracted watching the command post that they had set up.”
Avira marvels at what happened next asking, “Then what happened?”
Pausing for a moment thinking about all of the action that had happened, Avaris Man replies, “All hell had broken loose I guess you could say. He called in to headquarters and reported sighting me and then I took him and out and dived in to the swamped swimming further out towards the rear of the waterway and just waited there watching them. It didn’t take too long before they sent a team out to search for me. A couple scuba divers swam out in my direction. I felt I had no choice so I took them all out as well and the others returned to camp. Moments later a few air boats came after me trying to throw a net over me and I pulled them in to the water wrecking two air boats. So far that’s about it. I don’t think they have enough resources to come after me now, but I’m sure they’ll resume the chase eventually.”
The story sounded more exciting then she thought, immediately Avira says, “Sounds exciting!”
Thinking back again for a brief moment Avaris Man answers, “I guess you could say that, it was too exciting. Like I said, it’s a matter of time before they come after me again.”
Realizing that they know that he’s out here hiding somewhere Avira remarks, “It looks like they know you’re out here somewhere and you killed a few of them. So what are you going to do? What are we going to do?”
Luckily the scientists aren’t aware of Avira’s existence or who she is until her disappearance is noticed which will happen fairly soon along with Ryan’s death. Appreciating this Avaris Man tells Avira, “I don’t know what to do other than protect ourselves. Anyhow they don’t know about your presence yet!”
Wanting to keep it that way Avira responds, “”Let’s keep it that way. I don’t want them finding out about me being out here. I’ll just be a missing person as far as they are concerned, or as anyone is concerned.”
Wanting to find a place to settle and change their way of life Avaris Man retorts, “Then we should find a place further back to hide and settle down.”
Giving a last sentence to reply, Avira augments, “Sounds like a plan!”
Moving closer to him, Avira says, “So what do we do until then?”
Immediately Avira starts to kiss him and the scene turns to their compassionate feelings towards each other.
CHAPTER TEN
Morning rises with the arrivals of new and fresh recruitments for the scientists to resume their endeavors with administering the toxins in to the water of the pond. So far they have held back considering that they have had a few delays that were completely and overwhelmingly avoidable. Meanwhile the scientists have no idea what they should really set out to do first. They are a little upset about how things haven’t gone so good the last day or so. The whereabouts of Avaris Man is unknown at the present moment, although they are ready to prepare themselves for another chance at clearing the pond and figuring out how to locate the mutable being and make a catch.
Once the new recruitments make their way inside the tent of the command center, Dr. Kill Pond asks, “Are you the new recruits?”
The first new recruit to answer is Gunny who accounts, “Yes, we are. We heard what happened? My name is Gunny and this Hunter!”
Dr. Kill Pond makes a remark on the agenda telling him, “Yes, quite a lot has happened in the last day. It has been quite a spectacle, or quite a mess you could say!”
The second recruitment has a commentary to add to the scenario saying, “So there’s a strange encounter running on the loose?”
Dr. X makes a joking comment saying. “Try swimming on the loose!”
Gunny decides that they may want to bring in some trackers that he knows are very good at tracking anything informing them, “I think perhaps we should call in some tracker that I know who can help get the job done without leaking anything out!”
Dr. Waters turns around from his laboratory table asking, “What kind of tracker is he, what’s his specialty?”
Trying to impress Dr. Waters, Hunter buts in commenting, “I’ve tracked lots of alligators and crocs, not to mention I discovered tracks believed to be from a Sasquatch.”
Thinking that the story is a bunch of malarkey Hunter is describing, Dr. Kill Pond asks, “Now what makes you think that I believe that with all of the hoaxes out there?”
Ready to show some proof, Hunter pulls out his wallet with a picture of a hidden camera in the woods that one of his friend forest rangers has displaying such a slight image. As he opens his wallet, Hunter says, “See, I have proof. Here’s a picture that my friend Rich Catch gave me. He’s a forest park ranger who monitors hidden cameras in remote places. This is one rare instance where a close up was captured.”
Dr. Kill Pond looks at it refuting, “That doesn’t look like a sasquatch, looks more like a bipedal bear. I hope he’s slyer than the Lone Park Ranger.”
Right away after defusing Hunter’s bragging, Gunny gets back to Dr. Water’s question saying, “Now, if you’re done butting in I can answer Dr. Water’s question. Actually, he’s really good at tracking just about anything, especially people.”
With the thought of how Avery is more than a person by now, Dr. Kill Pond declares, “Well, I think he is more than a person we are after. Think of him more as a creature who is quickly adapting to his environment to where trying to even get close to him is virtually impossible without risking any more casualties that we can’t afford. This isn’t some crocodile or alligator we are interested. This is a human being who has changed in many ways, but he still has feelings.”
With an observation to bring forth Dr. Waters ads, “And that poses a huge problem for us!”
Right away Gunny has a question to ask, “And why does that pose a threat?”
Dr. Kill Pond explains her enlightenment on the whole idea saying, “These feelings he has towards the incident has brought him back to these ponds and obviously he has done nothing other than retaliate against us. And according to the emergency room he was frightened by another patient who was ready for a skin graph from a brown recluse wound before his quick departure.”
Very anxious to persuade Dr. Kill Pond in to allowing his friends to join the pursuit Hunter states to her saying, “Obviously he’s scared and has nowhere else to go!”
Dr. Waters laughs slightly with a sense of awe to his understatement jousting, “Scared, he’s caused nothing but havoc!”
Breaking in to the conversation again, Dr. X asks Hunter, “How long until your friends can make themselves available?”
Not hesitating another moment Hunter discloses, “Probably by the midafternoon!”
Dr. Kill Pond assures the extra help and company hoping they are as good as these guys say they are balking, “What the heck, what do we have to lose if they are as good as you both say they are at tracking. But I don’t think it’s going to do a bit of good without setting some sort of trap to catch him.”
Trying to picture the scene in his mind Gunny says, “Why do you need a trap anyways?”
Dr. Kill Pond comes back with a reply, “Obviously it’s too hard to hit him with a tranquilizers gun or an ichthyocthereol gun in those murky waters.”
With the idea of using nets somehow Gunny numerates, “How about trying large drop nets to catch him somehow?”
Without even batting an eye, Dr. X mumbo jumbos, “We already tried that and lost two airboats along with other supplies.”
Because the mentioning of the scientists who have been lost wasn’t included in the conversation, Dr. Waters joins the talk again, “Don’t forget the lost lives we incurred!”
Feeling like everyone has been expendable in a way, Hunter blurts, “Sounds like they were expendable!”
Getting to the bigger picture of reality, Dr. Kill Pond instructs the new partners, “All of us are expendable in these parts!”
Immediately pulls out his phone ready to make the call prompting, “I’ll go ahead and make the call!”
Wondering how long they will take, Dr. Kill Pond questions, “How quick can they get here, we don’t want to wait too long!”
Thinking that he can’t go too far away anyhow, Hunter assesses the situation, “He’s not going anywhere. Where can he go if he is already changed in to some swamp thing?”
Right away Gunny dials the number and puts the phone to his ear while he waits through a series of rings while making the call. After patiently waiting for a few moments or so Gunny starts to talk, “Hey Trapper, its Gunny. How would you like to do some trapping?
Quickly Trapper answers saying, “What the hell you got out there!”
Gunny makes a reply to his question telling him, “You won’t believe what we have out here out at the Green Highway Swamps!”
Dr. X breaks in to the conversation interrupting imposing, “Don’t say anything over the phone!”
Then Dr. Waters adds a bit of enthusiasm saying, “Just get him over here!”
Trying to conceal the identity of the situation over the phone Gunny says, “How about just coming over to the command post at the south end of the swamps and bring the cages. You may as well bring your wife too.”
Expecting a kind of reward Trapper asks, “What’s the bounty?”
Having no clue, Gunny asks Dr. Kill Pond, “What’s the bounty on the catch?”
With a reward worth more than money, Dr. Kill Pond responds, “Tell him he’ll be famous!”
After a slight chuckle, Gunny tells Trapper, “We’ll be famous!”
Without a doubt Trapper says, “I find that hard to believe, but okay you got me. It’s going to cost you though!”
Ready to wait it out, Gunny says, “See you when you get here!”
Instantly Dr. Kill Pond gets up saying, “We have quite a clean-up to do while waiting!”
Anxious to make the preparations, Gunny says, “Let’s get to it!”
Now we flip back to Avery, or should I say Avaris Man. And don’t forget Avira, who we can now call Avaris Woman at this point.
While fondling around and swimming to explore the natures of their habitat, Avaris Man tries to make his move on Avaris Woman for the first time. For some reason he feels the emotional bond already developing with a huge sense of reciprocation towards the both of them and the situation. As he moves forward closer to her, he feels a sense of passion build up over him. It’s like they were merely meant for each other. Slowly he touches her with his wet webbed like fingers. She turns and swims backward with her back against him.
Now he feels as if they are still both an integral part of their old selves. He feels more like Avery now and she seems more like the person he first mistakenly met named Avira. At first to himself he felt as though he were some diseased varmint contaminated with a scientific mutation of doom. It was almost like his blood and veins were filled with a poison that would infect or rot anything that it came in touch with, especially humans.
When he first touched Avira in the pond after the initial attack, he felt that she may be dead. Well, at least a part of him did, while another part of him knew that she would be alright. Especially after he sensed that it was her lying face down in the pond. He had a feeling that maybe she would come back for some reason like it was meant to be. It was almost like she was instinctively drawn to this place, although she caught a glimpse of a clue from Ryan’s computer. It was like she was drawn to this place to seek out this deranged form of life that the world has offered to them.
Somehow he feels as though he has turned and transformed in to a sort of trickster who is a scientific accident. And his recent actions have been that of an unconscious reality, almost as though it were a dreamlike state that he slipped in to by mistake. He also feels that his actions are only accidentally beneficial to human kind and that he’s not really concerned with the welfare of humans. He doesn’t even qualify for a culture hero at this point in time. He feels he is no more than a scientific accident that must find a way to survive on its own, his own, their own, and carry on his species through some means of evolution.
Now he feels it is time to try and carry on their mutated blood which will hopefully carry on through some form of allopatric speciation where they are being separated from the divergent species. They are even undergoing a slight disruption of parapatric speciation with a complete separation from certain areas of the pond and dominant species of Avaris. Nevertheless they must carry on their mutated genes and try and have offspring of their own. Of course, this sounds silly as he thinks up and conjures all of these thoughts through his scheming altered mind of his.
All the same he feels that they are getting along together just fine. Slowly they are becoming accustomed to their new habitat little by little. As they swim around within a close distance, Avaris Man makes a closer connection by holding her hand and pulling her closer to him. Giving in Avira, or should we say Avaris Woman, paddles herself a little closer.
Not wanting to let the chance get too far away from him, Avaris Man moves his face closer to hers while aiming his lips directly at hers. Swiftly Avaris Woman moves in for a kiss, yet it is only a short extension of her presumed caring attitude as she pushes away afterwards and swims away a few yards chuckling.
Then she holds her lips from burning sensations that has come over her mouth and lips saying, “Poisonous!”
Feeling his lips as well from a burning sensation that came over him, Avaris Man says, “I felt that also!”
Thinking about how it seems they are more poisonous than they first expected Avaris Woman confirms, “It seems that maybe we are more dangerous and venomous than we first originally thought!”
Wondering what they are going to do which goes against everything he has just thought and fabricated inside his wandering mind, Avaris Man discloses, ”What are we going to do?”
Contemplating the whole idea of things over in her mind, she adds, “I don’t know, I feel weird!”
Agreeing with her and her feeling, Avaris Man utters, “I feel weird too, and we can’t even kiss without eating each other up!”
Right away Avaris Woman, or should the sudden passions of Avira’s demeanors bring her closer to Avaris Man as she moves closer for another kiss lipping, ”It doesn’t bother me that much! We’ll just have to get used to it, I guess!”
Suddenly she moves in closer and gives him another kiss, although this time she tends to put a lot more tongue in to it which he doesn’t expect. For a moment he notices how her tongue has changed and seems more like an Octopus tentacle. Because in some way it tends to have such a sucking force to it which he didn’t really expect. After a long moment she tends to pull away by releasing her tongue and pulling it from his mouth.
After getting a face full of action from her that burns even more passion from his burning desire to mate with her Avaris Man bloods, “That was some kiss!”
Turning around with a bit of shyness Avaris Woman shrills, “Yeah, I’m a hard kisser, I guess you could say!”
With a sense of joy, Avaris Man blurts, “I’ll say, what next?”
Swimming away slowly, Avaris Woman scrambles up, “Let’s go find a romantic place to get fresh.”
Looking around and only seeing nothing but a swamp and marsh of everything growing in it from algae to mold, Avaris Man proclaims, “What romantic place, it all looks the same to me? Nothing but a swamp and marsh that’s wet and mucky!”
Accepting their new home and habitat just the way it is in appearance, Avaris Woman discloses, “There’s nothing wrong with this place, you’re just not looking at things three dimensionally.”
Realizing that she sounds sort of absurd the way she’s talking. It’s almost like she’s losing it and has gone crazy and out of her mind more or less. It seems that she has maybe lost a sense of reality and like she was accepting some type of alternate consciousness to their existence. Bringing this to mind, the fact that she sounds totally out of it for some reason, Avaris Man tells her, “Sounds like you’ve taken a liking to this place!”
Wondering about how she won’t have to keep up all of those responsibilities she had before in her previous life, she deliberates to him, “Look on the bright side, there’s no bills to pay out here. No real worries and responsibilities to deal with on an everyday basis.”
Explaining to her that she sounds even crazier than he first bargained for, Avaris Man says, “You must be even crazier than I first thought.”
With the impression of wanting to make things comfortable for the both of them, she replies, “You have to learn to make the best of things sometimes. Most of the time things don’t end up going right anyhow in everyday life as it is with our old lives. And not to mention you’re the one who lured me out in here in the first place with your computer research that was a bunch of mambo jumbo!”
Digging for an excuse and reason for his lack of knowledge with his computer research Avaris Man elusively declares, “Well, what was I supposed to do, I didn’t know what to look up, or what I was up against. I merely caught a tip from a t-shirt that gave me a few ideas and the rest is top secret for all I know. And here I am out here in the middle of a swamp with you stuck trying to figure it all out. And it won’t be long before those scientists come trail blazing after us again.”
Recognizing the fact that they are only after him, Avaris Woman articulates, “They will be after you again. They don’t know about me, at least yet. They will know about me when I come up missing and end up on some milk carton or lost poster at a grocery store outlet somewhere.”
Making a wise crack, Avaris Man augments, “Maybe a lost poster or flyer, you’re too old to be on a milk carton that they don’t make any more anyways.”
“Well, anyhow, they don’t know about me yet, and when they do find out that I’m missing and that Ryan is dead they may link you somehow. Did you leave anything there in the apartment as a clue to you being there as far as forensic evidence is concerned?” Avaris Woman considers after going over the scheme of things.
Going back to taking the backpack from before he left the apartment, Avaris Man quibbles, “I changed clothes, although I took everything like my old clothes in a back pack that I brought when I left there. Everything is wet and water soaked from swimming in the canal to get back out here.”
Not caring about the condition of his clothes like his underwear at this time, Avaris Woman chuckles slightly while saying, “I don’t care about the condition of your clothes, you probably won’t be wearing them anymore anyhow, especially the condition of your under garments. I just don’t want them leading them to find me out here. I don’t see how we are going to go back without becoming the outburst of some scientific study. We can forget changing our clothes every day. We’ll just have to wear what we have until they get torn and worn out too bad. Somehow we will have to figure out a way to get some supplies and food. By the way what are we going to eat out here?”
He could tell her what he tried to eat earlier, but that might make her totally gross out, besides he decides to tell her anyways jargoning, “You won’t believe what I tried to eat earlier. Maybe it’s better if I don’t tell you.”
Guessing at what he probably tried to eat, Avaris Woman asks, “What was it, one of those fish that stung us?”
“How did you guess? There’s nothing else to eat out here. But I ate a few things from his refrigerator before I left.” He shrills out with a serious tone of voice.
“I had a large meal before I went over there, I suppose,” she speculates while her hunger pains begin to worsen.
Discerning to himself slightly, Avaris Man says, “We’ll, think of something!”
Right away, Avaris Woman thinks about some food she has in her car that she left the other day when she went to the store. Bringing this idea to mind she concerns herself saying, “I have some chips and saltines, and some beef jerky in my car in the back seat.”
Wanting some fresher water, Avaris Man asks, “What about something to drink?”
Quickly she answers, “The only thing in there is a jug of water in the back seat and I have another one in the trunk for my radiator also.”
Marveling where her car is at, Avaris Man questions her sense of direction asking, “Where is your car at?”
Going back to when she first arrived here, Avaris Woman informs him, “Where I left it when I first came here!”
Discerning the time when he first found her, Avaris Man implores, “Did you leave it over where you were first attacked?”
Recalling the incident of the initial attack, Avaris Woman agrees with him saying, “Yes, I remember now. It’s just on the other side of the reeds on the south side.”
Hoping that her car hasn’t been found by anyone, or perhaps, messed with sitting out there by its lonesome, Avaris Man gibbers, “I hope your car is still there!”
Thinking how he sounds ridiculous, she enquires, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The thoughts of the car being towed by the authorities come to his mind. Getting eager to see if her car is still there, Avaris Man augments, “We should go over there and see just in case it has been towed or something. If it’s been towed then they know you’re out here because they would have to run your license plate to find your registration.”
Wanting to ditch the car or maybe even hide it from anyone in a distinct place, Avaris Woman enthusiastically says, “Maybe we should get whatever supplies we can and then ditch or hide the car somewhere.”
Ready to move on, Avaris Man quibbles, “Sounds like a plan. We could hide your car or ditch it in the swamp where it’s deep enough. Do you still have your car keys?”
Promptly Avaris Woman reaches inside her pocket of her tatter torn jeans to see if her car keys are still there. Placing her hand in to her left pocket, she moves her hand around for a moment like she might have lost them for a second. Then after feeling them in her pocket she says, “Yes, I still have my cars keys! Where can we ditch it?”
Ready to dart off and leave, Avaris Man commands, “Let’s go over there and see before anyone else does! Yes, I know a place where we can ditch it!”
Hurriedly they both head back to the place where she was first attacked and he first discovered her laying there in the pond face first in the muggy waters. Of course, the avaris had fled the scene upon his out from nowhere arrival. For some reason they have accepted him as one of their own species, and maybe the truth of the matter is the same for her as well, that they have attacked her out of the will of their instinct for some means of surviving through evolution.
Soon they approached the area where he dragged her in to his swamp abode that he made out behind a large tree growing along the marshy waters. When they near the large tree, Avaris Man thinks about when he first resuscitated her back from her appearing to be unconscious from drowning.
As they pass on by Avaris Woman asks, “Is that the spot I woke up at?”
“Yes, that’s where I brought you ashore after you passed out and were unconscious in the water,” Avaris Man answers back telling her the short story to the incident.
Guessing at how long she was out cold from the incident, Avaris Woman queries, “How long was I out for?”
Getting back to the heart of the story explaining the occurrence, Avaris Man carries on declaring, “You were out for quite a while, at least a half hour maybe. You swallowed some water to that I had to pump out of your stomach with my hands. For a while I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it. But then on the other hand, I had a feeling.”
After another few moments go on by, they approach the location of the earlier incident. It seems quiet once again like there’s not much happening in means of avaris schools havocking a frenzy. Before making their way towards the shore and embankment to dry land, Avaris Woman starts to recall instances from earlier. With this in mind, she asks, “Is this where I was attacked?”
Right away Avaris Man agrees with her about the situation articulating, “Yes, this is the spot right where I first found you. The fish all fled as I approached. I found you face first right her in the swamp.”
With a glaring gleam to her eyes, Avaris Woman says, “Wow, all I can remember is getting stung all over while falling in the water and sinking in the mud. Then all I can remember is blacking out I guess.”
Staring past the water’s edge, Avaris Man questions her saying, “Where’s your car then?”
Turning to take a look in the darkened swamp, Avaris Woman slangs, “Just over there about a hundred feet or so past that tree.”
In sort of a hurry so they aren’t discovered by anyone especially those scientists, Avaris Man jousts, “Let’s hurry up and get over there!”
“What’s the rush, we’re right there almost?” She says trying to ignore the images coming to mind as they swim towards the shore.
“I just don’t want any more trouble from any of them right now.” Avaris Man says wanting to make sure nothing else happens until he can assess his future actions.
A moment later they reach a spot where they can touch the bottom and walk their way ashore in the mud. Once they exit the pond a car or vehicle drives by in the distance. Quickly they stop as Avaris Man says, “Wait!”
Starting off in the direction of her car, Avaris Woman says, “What, it’s just a car driving by on the highway. What are you so nervous for, my car just right over there?”
Looking around as they get closer to Avira’s car, Avery says, “I don’t want any more confrontations. They could pop out at any time with a means of catching me, us.”
When they draw closer and have access to the car, Avaris Woman takes out her car keys and opens the car door. It seems that no one has messed with the car since she has been away from it the last day or so. Anyhow they shouldn’t take a chance leaving it there for the scientists to find if the start searching nearby tributaries and water outlets.
Needing to ditch or hide the car, Avaris Man wisps, “Should we hide it, or ditch it in the swamp!”
Right off the bat, Avira becomes agitated and aroused about the idea of ditching her car in the swamp. Especially considering that it’s a sport’s car with a large back seat for them to take a night cap. With a furious tone of voice, Avaris Woman balks, “Hey, this is my car were talking about, this is my prize possession!”
Not expecting her to change her mind all of a sudden, Avaris Man discloses, “Just a minute ago you didn’t care if we ditched your car or hid it!”
Before she wasn’t sure if it was still here the way he was talking. As far as she’s concerned the scientists aren’t that much of a threat to her at this time. Afraid to just ditch her car in the swamp and lose it forever in a sense, Avaris Woman gabbles, “That’s because you made it sound like it was towed away by some scientists that are supposedly out to get you!”
Out to convince her further without getting close to the newly structured compound, Avaris Man says, “They are after me!”
Looking around with the car door open while standing there, Avaris Woman asks, “Well, is there any where we can hide it where nobody can see it just in case we have to get out of here or something. You never know we may have an emergency and still have to use it. And we can travel at night still at least to find retribution somewhere else.”
Glaring around for a better spot to put her car that is more camouflaged and hidden from the highway and as well most parts of the swamp, Avaris Man thinks of a spot that he saw not too far from here. Mentioning this place he says, “There’s spot just over there about an eighth of a mile where there are some large trees with low branches hanging down all around. We can hide your car under those trees.
Eager to jump inside and take her car someplace where she won’t feel the need to ditch it, she replies, “Well, get in on the other side and let’s see this place because I’m afraid to run the car in to the swamp. And what happens if it doesn’t sink all of the way and the top of it or the trunk sticks out. I’d rather we hide it somewhere for now, we can always change our mind and ditch it again later if we decide to.”
After Avaris Man crosses over to the other side and gets in the passenger seat Avira starts the car and puts the gear shifter in drive saying, “Where to, just over there a ways?”
Pointing the way and agreeing, Avaris Man says, “Yes, just over there a little ways pat those trees.”
They get there and Avira parks the car under a tree that has low hanging branches that hang down in to some large grass strands that are strewn all over. She shuts the ignition off and reaches in the back seat for a bag with some food she had left before when she went to the store the other day. She also grabs a jug of water and another jug of juice that she forgot about. Opening the bag after handing him the water, Avaris Woman says, “This shall tie us over for a while. We may as well camp her in the car for the night. No one can see us under this tree. We should be safe her for a while I suppose. About a half hour goes by and they both start to become tires and start to fall asleep. Soon they develop a bonding chemistry and both end up in the back seat sleeping together like a couple trying to survive such a calamity with this entire situation.
This is the evening they bond and make love and begin to carry on their kind as the dominant as the dominant species in the swamp. The theory of survival of the fittest becomes a major theme as the scientists are the key to their extinction.
THE END