Biohazard, A Snake's Tale
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Biohazard, A Snake's Tale
By William W. Kelso
Angie sighed as she checked another bloody sheep for any signs of disease or parasites, and finding none tagged it. It had sounded like a good deal, make some extra money and get to spend part of the summer on a private island and have plenty of time to work on her thesis. All she had to do was run routine tests on the flocks of sheep and make sure they stayed healthy. She even had her own little house; all utilities and expenses paid, to live in. The main problem was it was BORING as hell. The damn place didn't even have DSL, cable, OR dish. And any outside communication had to be done via radio, it was like something out of the dark ages. But the pay WAS good, and would set her up for her next year of college with some left over. She grabbed another sheep at random and looked it over.
Except for an occasional visit by another worker from the main house the stupid sheep were her only company, the sheep and the stupider geese. She was supposed to have help today, but as usual Tony was nowhere to be seen. The only thing he was good at was making himself scarce when there was work to be done.
Ah, beautiful Mt. Chappell Island, land of exotic beauty and bleating sheep, one of the Furneaux Group of Islands in the middle of nowhere. Of course once a month she got to go to Flinders Island for a fun weekend of more boredom, but at least there were people there. And more importantly, boys! And not village idiots like Tony, where WAS that spaz anyway? With another sigh she finished her health inspections for the morning and decided to go for a run before lunch. The sea breeze was blowing and it made things nice and much cooler. She went inside and changed into her running shorts and a halter, grabbed a bottle of water, and headed out for the path along the low cliffs and beach.
The snake moved slowly through the tall grass. Normally he would hunt mainly at night, but hadn't had any luck for a few days and hunger drove him to leave his den and try his luck in the daytime. He flicked his tongue out sampling the air and temperature, and also checked for any vibrations in the ground. He paused as he suddenly felt increasing vibrations, and quickly sought concealment next to; or hopefully under, a nearby large rock. He knew the vibrations meant a large animal was approaching, much too large for him to prey upon. He preferred to avoid a confrontation if possible. As he reached the rock he paused and spit up a glob of greenish goo with green strands in it, he had been doing this every since he had eaten that rat that had ventured ashore from the ship it had stowed away onboard. The snake wasn't really sick, but it was infested with the mutagen and the goo that it thrived in. Once the mutagen had entered the snakes system it had immediately incorporated the snakes DNA into its own makeup, and now needed only a host to perform the function it had originally been designed for. But because of a mutation from exposure to biological and other toxic wastes it would perform that function in a way never intended by its creator. The host had to be human; if another animal ingested the mutagen it would just incorporate the new animals DNA into its own makeup. The snake tensed as the vibrations came closer, and then stopped. The snake could now see; and smell, a large animal standing over it. The animal moved and the snake felt a sudden pressure on its body and with an angry hiss it struck at the predator. The threat moved away and with rapid movements of its body the snake disappeared into deeper grass, and hopefully safety. It hated to waste venom on non-prey, but it had been attacked and had no choice but to defend itself.
Angie was enjoying her run; she was almost three miles from the house now and had about another quarter mile to go before she turned around. Noticing one of her shoelaces had come untied she paused by a rock to retie it. When she put her foot back down she never saw the snake; it was perfectly camouflaged in the tall grass, until she stepped on it. She felt it when it bit her though, a searing pain in her calf. It held on for a few seconds, then let go and took off into the grass. She saw it clearly just before it disappeared. Oh my God, she realized, it was a Tiger Snake! She had known they were on the island, but this was the first one she'd seen, and they were deadly poisonous. She knew for a fact that the neurotoxin they used was perfectly capable of killing a human. She sat down on the rock in shock, she was over two; closer to three, miles from the cabin and had no medical kit, and certainly no antitoxin, but she knew they had some at the main house. But she'd left her cell phone at the house! Damn it to bloody hell, stupid fucking snake! Her leg was starting to throb and hurt, and she looked at the bite. There were the usual two fang punctures and some sort of greenish goo smeared over the area. Snake slobber, gross, she thought as she wiped it away. She poured some water over the wound and realized she'd better hurry and get back to the house as soon as possible, but had to fight the urge to run as she knew that would just make it worse, it would cause the poison to spread throughout her circulatory system faster.
The mutagen entered her body through the snakes bite and immediately detected it had entered a proper host. It went into an incredibly rapid reproduction phase as it multiplied by mitosis and quickly spread throughout the host's body. As it had been programmed to do it began to "heal" the host by repairing its DNA and replacing it with the DNA stored in its matrix. One of the first threats it encountered was the neurotoxin the snake had injected, but the mutagen neutralized the toxin and began to perform other repairs. As it spread it attached itself to the hosts DNA and began to rewrite it to make the host whole and healthy again.
Angie only got a few hundred yards before the throbbing ach in her leg became so bad she had to stop and rest. She leaned against another boulder and drank the rest of her water. She felt sick and feverish; it must be the poison she thought in fear. She knew neurotoxins were quick acting, and depending on how much the snake had pumped into her that made a big difference. But she knew it was probably a lot as the snake had really hit her hard. Her leg throbbed again and she moaned from the pain and reached down to rub it. Ugh, she thought as she pulled her hand away and looked at the gooey clear mucus stuck to it. She looked down and realized the whole of her lower leg was covered with the stuff. She must have stepped in something, but didn't remember seeing anything. It looked like snot. She stood up and almost collapsed, God her leg hurt! Her foot felt like it was swelling and her tennis shoe felt uncomfortable. Maybe she could move better barefoot, so she reached down and pulled off her shoe and sock, and stared in incomprehension.
What the hell? Her toes had grown together! That mucus shit was all over them and her leg had started to burn and itch, but what was wrong with her toes? Maybe they just look like that because of the mucus, so she reached down and tried to scrap the stuff off her foot, and some skin came away with it. And underneath was a greenish colored leathery looking skin and her toes HAD grown together! OMG, what the hell was wrong, did neurotoxins cause this kind of allergic reaction? It had to be a result of the snake bite. She tried to put weight on her now deformed foot, but it just hurt too much. And the mucus now covered her whole leg, and she realized it was oozing out of her skin like sweat. She whimpered and looked around. Oh God, please let Toby come wandering by, the big goof-off supposed to be around here somewhere. Suddenly a cramp hit her stomach and she doubled over with a moan. Another stronger one hit and she gasped from the pain. It was the poison, she could feel it spreading! She was sweating profusely now, and felt really sick and nauseated. She leaned over and vomited and saw globs of greenish goo full of little green strands mixed in with her breakfast. Oh great, I have worms too she thought. Another violent cramp hit her and with a sob she rolled off the rock and lay on the ground.
She lay gasping for a few minutes, then with a moan pulled herself up and sat with her back to the sun warmed boulder. She looked at her leg again and blinked in growing terror, her leg was shorter now! She reached down and pulled off more dead skin to reveal the green color had spread almost to her knee and the mucus was starting to ooze from the upper part of her other leg as well. She reached under her shorts and her hand came away slick with goo, it was oozing out of the skin around her waist and her privates as well, her shorts and panties were drenched with the slimy nasty stuff. Another wave of cramps hit her and this time moved up her body and into her neck and arms. Oh God, she hadn't though the poison would act so fast! She'd heard it could cause your skin to die and rot, but surely not this fast! Her leg was rotting off of her, and it hurt, oh God it hurt! She sobbed and cried as another wave of cramps and nausea rippled through her and threw up again all over herself as she was in too much pain to roll over on her side. She could only sit next to rock helplessly as the mutagen performed its function with efficiency and speed.
She leaned against the rock moaning in a semi-delirium for awhile as the mutagen spread throughout her system and finally reached the right concentration to start the major repairs. She let out a gasp as she felt a sudden pressure at the base of her spine and raising her head she looked as something stirred in her shorts and a pointed dark brown stub of something began to push down the side of her infected leg through the pants leg, and as it emerged it began to weakly thrash from side to side and she could FEEL it, it was part of her! She also noticed her right leg was now just a large stump down to the knee, and more skin had sloughed off of it to reveal the same dark brown coloration as the thing growing longer between her legs, and she could feel her spine lengthening and pushing out of her. And now her other leg was completely covered in that horrible mucus and as she watched her other tennis shoe fell off pulling the sock with it and her other foot was now a shapeless lump as well with dark brown showing through tears in its sodden flesh. "Nooooooo!" she moaned, what kind of poison does this? The thing between her legs was now almost two feet long and she noticed with disbelief that it looked like it had SCALES on it! This is wrong, so wrong; it can't be poison doing this, she thought. She suddenly arched her body as a strong wave of pain rippled down the length of her body and her TAIL (?) gave a frenzied whip and curled up before straightening out again, and it was longer! And it WAS a tail, there was no doubt about that now. She could feel it brushing against the dirt and grass. She felt like she was on fire, the horrible burning and itching had spread to her whole body. But her nausea was so bad and the pain so great it kept her from doing much other than trying to remain as still as possible as any movement only made it worse.
With a moan she scratched desperately at her waist and torso, and her hands came away with strips of wet limp skin, and as it pulled free she could see the bands forming on her stomach, belly bands like a reptile, broad and shiny, a dark tan color. In horror she clawed at more of her now numb and dead skin, and it pulled away to reveal more bands, some only partially formed. She could actually see her skin writhing as it changed underneath! OMG,
"NOOOOO, TONY, where are you!!!" she screamed, and then had to lean over and vomit again. She felt so horribly sick, and was burning up.
She noticed her vomit was all green goo full of squirming wriggling green strands. It's this stuff, she thought, it had to be! What the HELL is it? She gasped as more cramps and waves of pain ran through her body, and closing her eyes she leaned back against the rock again. This isn't real, she thought, that's it; I'm delirious from the poison! I'm hallucinating!
She lay gasping against the rock, tears running from under her eyelids as the pain and cramps went on and on. She had stopped tearing at her horribly itching and burning skin as her arms felt numb and wouldn't respond to her commands anymore. She had her mouth open and panted trying to help cool down her body as she could feel the heat raging through her, but only her upper body seemed to be sweating. The pain lessened and with a weary sign she opened her eyes and stared at the bright blue sky, how could this happen to me on such a beautiful day she thought, and dreading was she would see looked down at herself and whimpered in horror.
"Oh God, oh God please NO!" she moaned.
Her legs were almost entirely gone; they were small vestigial bumps on her now ten foot long sinuous reptilian body. Her tail was slowly coiling and uncoiling, twisting and turning and she could see dark brown scales on the back of her body, and from the chest down she had broad dark tan bands on her belly. And her arms were shrinking now as they were drawn into her body, they no longer had fingers or hands and were just elbow length stubs now. She tried to move them and they twitched. She had felt her genitals changing and now realized her vagina had moved farther down her body, she could still see it but it was shaped differently now and protruded from between bands, and then even as she watched the bands folded over it and it disappeared except for a barely noticeable slit. She no longer had any kind of hips or butt, her tubular body was smooth and unbroken. And looking at her halter she could tell her lovely full breasts were shrinking too and she moaned in despair. Not my breasts too, my lovely breasts! Another sudden wave of pain caused her whole body to arch and buck, and she fell over on her side with a gasping hiss of agony. Oh God it huuuurts! She could feel her tongue flicking out of her mouth, and her face felt strangely hard and immobile.
As she lay on her back she realized she was staring at the ground, and flicking her tongue out she could taste (?) the dirt and grass. She gave a heave, and with a hissing grunt managed to flip herself over onto her belly. There, that was better! Her neck felt strangely stiff and while she could move the lower part of her body the upper part was stiff and felt heavy. Another ripple of pain ran down from her head to the tip of her tail, and she hissed in pain as she felt the bones in her spine crack and could hear them popping as her body lengthened as what was left of her arms pulled the rest of the way into her body and the bumps of her shoulders began to disappear. Her neck began to lengthen and stretch as it became the same width as the rest of her body. She blinked her eyes rapidly as they burned and were irritated, and gradually her eyesight changed as her pupils became vertical and she realized her vision was more tunnel like, sharp and clear in the center, but blurred around the edges. Plus her depth perception seemed to be much closer, beyond a certain distance there was only a hazy blur, but she was very much aware of any movement. She ran a long forked tongue over her hard lipless mouth, a tongue that emerged from a tube in her lower jaw. Oh God, this is so weird! She thought in confusion. She tried to call out again, but could only manage a strange guttural hissing sound. Her hearing was still good, but her sense of "taste" was unbelievable. A few lesser waves of pain rippled down her body, each less painful than the previous, and it was over. With a wet burping sound she threw up a large glob of the green goo. The mutagen, having finished "healing" its host now became dormant, but would continue to grow slowly and the carrier would constantly spit it up.
Angie lay there for awhile, her fifteen foot dark greenish brown scaled length resting in the warm sun as the heat and fever from the change faded. Both she and the new Tiger Snake she had become were confused and disoriented. She knew who she was, but there were strange new feelings and needs that she seemed to have now. And one was to find cover as the sun was starting to feel too hot and she was starting to overheat. Being cold blooded now she needed to carefully regulate her body heat, and her new instincts told her she needed to find some shade. And she was also very thirsty and almost dehydrated from the demands the change had put on first her old, then her new, body.
Her tongue flicking in & out rapidly she slowly raised her head as far she could and turned and looked at herself. OMG, I'm a snake! This can't be ME! But as she coiled back on herself she realized that yes, it was indeed her. She ran her tongue over her new body, tasting herself and looking at the sleek scales that covered her length. I'm pretty, she thought, for a damn snake! If she could have shed tears she would have as she cried in her mind, I don't want to be like this! She'd never had anything against snakes, but she certainly didn't want to BE one. But she was, and she knew she had to learn to live with that until she could find some help. She didn't know why this had happened, or how, but surely some scientist or somebody would, and could change her back. But she was so hot! She needed to find cover, and water.
She lowered her head and without even consciously realizing what she was doing started to slither across the ground, her head slightly raised to help see where she was going and her tongue constantly tasting the air for any signs of danger, or food. Food, she thought, she was hungry too. She didn't even notice as her clothes slid off and were left behind, the last vestiges of her humanity were now gone. Not that she had any need to be modest anymore. She could feel powerful ripples moving down her body to propel her along the ground at a very fast pace as she sinuously slid along, her sleek body never straight but always moving in "S" shaped curves. She remembered there were some small pools fed by rain or underground seeps nearby, and she could taste and smell the water. Pushing her head through a final screen of grass she came to the bank of one of the pools and eagerly lowered her head and sucked up the cool water, it felt sooo good! Then she suddenly felt a vibration as something large approached. With a loud warning his she coiled back on herself, flattened her body, and reared up. It was a stupid sheep! It took one look at her and ran off bleating in terror. She gave an irritated hiss, uncoiled, and took another long drink. The she slithered around the edge of the pool until she came to a nice shady spot under some bushes and tall grass. She coiled in the shade and rested her head on one of her coils, and stared out at the world through her strange new eyes, her tongue constantly checking the air.
She knew she was a snake now, a Tiger Snake. The same kind that had bitten her and she was correct in assuming the bite had something to do with her strange and horrible change, but no idea how or why. But there were two major differences between her and "normal" Tiger Snakes, one was her intelligence, and the other was her size, and the only way even a major dissection could tell her from a "normal" snake would be by her size. The physical change was 100%; she WAS a snake now in every way, no matter what she had been before. Most Tiger Snakes of her sub-species are between maybe five and seven feet long when adult. She was almost fifteen feet long due to her body weight. She had been a petite woman and weighed about 165 tops, and even though the change had burned up at least twenty pounds to fuel itself she was still at least 145 pounds, which was big for a snake with exception of some of the larger constrictors. And she would stay like that as the mutagen did not change the weight of a host it "healed", only its physical form. And as she was a fairly young snake she might even grow larger.
As her body temperature came down she felt better and more alert, and the main problem now was, what the fuck to do? She was miles from her house, and even if she went there what could she do? She couldn't use the phone to call for help, and couldn't even use the computer, no hands. Strangely the lack of legs or arms didn't seem to bother her that much, she could move just fine. But that was about it; she could move but couldn't operate or use anything. She let out a long frustrated hiss. This really sucked! She finally decided to go to the house anyway; maybe Toby or someone would be there and could get help. It never occurred to her that she couldn't even tell anyone what had happened to her, or what their reaction to her new appearance might be.
She waited until some cloud cover moved in and it was a little cooler, then uncoiling she slithered down to the pool and got another drink. When she was through she moved back into the grass and down to the trail. She would follow it back to her house. It was around two miles, but she was surprised at how fast she covered the ground as she could move at what to a human would be fast walking pace constantly, and without tiring. But she did slow and stop ever so often to taste and smell the air for anything of interest, her tongue constantly flicking in and out. She encountered scent trails fairly often, but most where old and fading. Some of the scent trails were from other snakes, and she found those especially interesting. She could tell if they were male or female, and most were Tiger Snakes. She paused and tasted and scented the trail a mature male Tiger Snake had left, strange feelings going through her mind. She knew both as a snake and human, that her kind weren't very social, but for some reason she found his scent interesting. It smelled and tasted intriguing. I'm wasting time, she finally decided, and started for the house again.
She crawled up the small rock wall surrounding the houses little front yard, and down the other side and onto the grass. She paused and raised her head almost four feet off the ground and looked around, tasting the air, her head moving from side to side including looking behind her. Nothing, no movement or fresh scents, good. Dropping she slithered to the front door and looked at it. Not getting in that way she thought as she looked at the doorknob. She remembered she'd left some windows open to catch the sea breeze (no AC), so she slithered around the side of the house until she came to an open one, and rearing up easily propelled herself up the wall and through the window and coiled up on a rug and looked around. After such a sudden drastic change in your life you'd think other things would have changed too, she thought. But the neat little house was the same. She crawled through it trying to think of something to do, anything! She stopped and crawled up into her office chair and stared at the computer. She poked at it with her nose, but couldn't even turn it on. She flicked her tongue over the keyboard in frustration. GOD DAMNIT, she thought as she gave loud hiss of anger. I can't even fucking scream! She coiled in on herself, I can't even fucking cry, she wailed in her head. I don't WANT to be a stupid snake! She slithered off the chair and into her bedroom, crawled up on the bed and coiled up partially on and off the pillows. She could smell and taste the animal scent in the bed, and it was now strange and alien to her. She rested her head on one of her coils and cried herself to sleep in her mind, her tongue constantly flickering out to check the air and even though she was asleep her eyes remained wide open.
Angie woke with a start and was instantly awake. At first she didn't know where she was, and the strange scents and surroundings alarmed her. She went into a defensive coil and hissed a warning, but then her human side took over and she calmed down. She realized that this used to be her home, but wasn't anymore. She accepted that now, and knew she had to find a new home, a place where she'd feel less uncomfortable, someplace dark and warm, and defensible. She was hungry too, and the old stable out back would be a good place to hunt. Hunt?? She suddenly realized what she'd been thinking. Hunt what? But her hunger was real, and somehow she knew what to do. She crawled down off the bed and slithered over to; and out of, the window. It was very dark night due to the cloud cover, but nice and warm. But the dark would be no hindrance to her as she hunted, in fact she preferred it like this as it gave her a major advantage. Perfect.
She made her way through the yard; passing under the old Rover, and entered the gloomy old barn. It was mostly used for storage now, but she could still smell and taste the age old traces of the animals that had been kept here, but more important were the much fresher scents. She moved slowly and carefully, stopping often to check for signs of prey, looking for their scents, smells, or heat signatures. She ignored some smaller signs; mice were just too small to interest her. She located an area that showed signs of a lot of traffic, and settled down to wait. She blended in perfectly in the dark and was almost invisible. She didn't need to see, her tongue told her all she needed to know and she could "see" the body heat of her prey. She didn't have long to wait, and as the prey moved close enough she struck with deadly accuracy, even in the near pitch dark. The prey reacted and fled, but before it got very far the deadly poison caused it to fall and kick, and soon its heart stopped. She patiently followed its trail, and finding the now dead cat she unhinged her jaws and started to swallow it head first. It was a large feral cat, but due to her size it didn't take her long to completely swallow it. Then she went back to her previous position and waited again. By morning she had killed; and eaten, two more cats and was finally full. Her human part was repulsed by what she'd done, but her full stomach did feel nice and full and her snake part was perfectly happy. I will never, she thought, get entirely used to this. Those had probably been some of the cats she'd left milk out for, but she'd eaten them without even thinking twice about it. Her emotions seemed more detached now, colder somehow. But she had to eat, and they HAD tasted good. She found a nice concealed corner and settled down to rest and start digesting her meal; she knew she wouldn't need to eat again anytime soon. With a satisfied hiss she fell asleep again, or as close to sleep as she could now. Yes, the hunting had been good; this might be a good place to den up.
As the sun came up the old stable warmed and she fell into a contented well fed stupor, and almost didn't notice when the truck drove up. The sound of the door slamming and a voice calling her name finally woke her up. Again she froze at the "strange" sounds and thought about staying where she was, or fleeing out the back of the stable and into the relative safety of the tall grass, or finding a way under the floorboards. But the human part of her took over; someone was here, someone that could help! A little sluggish from the noticeable bulges in her stomach she slithered through the front door of the stable and out into the yard.
As she moved across the yard she passed under the Rover again, and coming out on the other side saw Tony standing by one of the back windows calling her name. Thank God, finally! She thought. She slithered up behind him and reared up as high as she could and tried to say something, but instead gave a loud hiss. Tony turned around at the strange sound; saw the giant snake, and proceeded to freak out big time. He gave a scream and ran around the side of the house, and she followed him. Damn it Tony, it's me! She thought. If she'd been thinking straight she'd probably have realized the effect her new body would have on most humans. But she was just desperate to find someone, anyone, to help her. She came around the corner of the house and narrowly avoided a blow from a garden rake. Tony! She thought, what the hell are you doing, it's me! And she gave another loud hiss, but this time it was a warning. The next blow connected though, about two thirds the way down her back and she writhed in pain as the sharp tines of the rake slammed down on her back and penetrated in two places.
At the sudden pain of the blow her human part retreated and the snake took over and went into defend/fight mode, and rearing up it lunged forward and sank it's fangs into the man's neck and he screamed and dropped the rake. With an angry pain filled hiss the snake took off into the high grass and disappeared. The man clutched at his neck as his face started to swell up and change color as the poison acted fast, it was the worst possible place he could have been bitten. He staggered around for another minute before falling over, kicked and thrashed on the ground for a few more minutes, then quietly died. The mutagen, which had already started spreading through his body, was unable to react fast enough to save the host. When it detected the host had died it became dormant.
Angie slithered through the grass; the pain from the wound in her back was agonizing. She couldn't scream, but like any other animal could feel pain, and it hurt just as bad. She round a nice shady spot under an overhang and carefully coiled up and licked at the pain in her back. Unbeknownst to her the mutagen was even now repairing the damage, which was one reason it hurt so much. She rested quietly for over two hours as the pain peaked, then slowly faded away. She was amazed to find the wound was completely healed, and she was fine again. She vaguely remembered what happened, OMG, did I bite Tony? Why the hell did he hit me? She had to go and see if he was OK!
Quickly she retraced her path to the house and carefully poked her head through the last of the tall grass, ready to flee if attacked again. But she need not have worried. She could see the still body lying by the side of the house, and cautiously approached it. Tony? She thought. Now that she was closer she could tell he was dead, he smelled and tasted that way and his body temperature was dropping. Oh God, she thought. She gently nuzzled at him with her head. Tony? Please, oh God I'm so sorry! She curled up next him and cried in her mind. Oh God, I didn't mean too! Tony, please forgive me! While not exactly a good friend he had been a nice enough bloke and she'd, oh Jesus, killed him! She rested her head on his chest and cried for a long time. Finally realizing there was nothing she could do for him she slithered back into the grass and found some cover, she didn't like being exposed in the open.
As she rested in the shade she stared out at the world and thought, so what do I do now? I can't be around people, I'm a damn murderer, and if she couldn't control her natural instincts and reactions to certain situations that made her dangerous. But she didn't want to be a snake either. She couldn't think of anything she could do about it though. She now knew that if she approached any other people all they would see; and understandably so, was a giant poisonous snake. And there were only a few other people on the island, and knowing them she knew they'd shoot first and then probably just hang her skin on the wall. She could see the headlines "World's biggest man killing Tiger Snake, killed by Joe Smuckola, 2009". She gave a soft hiss; it would appear she was stuck like this, probably for good. Oh God, she thought, I don't want to be a snake! But all she could do was stare out at her new world, her tongue flicking in and out. I don't want to be a snake! She cried in her mind, and hissed sadly.
Melissa had been dozing a little, and when the phone rang she jumped. It was probably George. He'd made a run into town for supplies and usually mucked it up to some extent. She picked up the phone and said,
"Backwoods Bob's Fish & Chips and Safari Supplies, what can I do you fer Mate!" But instead of George's usual laugh there was silence at first, then a voice said,
"Oh, I appear to have a wrong number, I was trying to reach the Outback Nature Preservation Society. I apologize; I must have a wrong number.
Eeeep! My bad, thought Melissa. "I'm sorry sir, this IS the Outback Nature Preservation Society, I thought you were someone else I was expecting a call from. Sorry for the odd greeting, it's kind of a running joke."
"Wasn't George, was it? Melissa, this is Dr. Milton, how are you and the rest of your rather unusual crew of ruffians?"
"Dr. Milton, said Melissa, what a nice surprise! Been a long time, are you in the area?"
"No, I'm afraid not, replied Dr. Milton, and I'm sorry to say this isn't entirely a social call. The goo may be back."
Oh God, thought Melissa. It had been over a year since the horrible stuff had transformed one of her assistants and a poor bloke named Robert into salt water crocodiles. They'd managed to let her know what had happened and she and a specialized team from the Sydney Institute of Genetics and Biological Research; led by Dr. Milton, had managed to, they thought, clean up and contain the scary stuff. She knew they were still doing research on the amazing mutagen as he had been polite and kind enough to keep her informed even though she officially no longer had anything to do with it other than to make regular trips to the original area of infestation to check for anymore outbreaks, but so far nothing. She thought he did partly because he was interested in her too, she knew she certainly liked him and hoped it would one day be more than just friendship. As George had told her, "That doctor fella would be a good catch for a Sheila." Poor George, blunt to a fault. His idea of courtship and romance was "Hello Luv, how's about a rough shag?" Next to him male Roo's were all a bunch of Romeo's. With a worried sigh she said,
"How do you know Doctor, has someone been changed into a croc again?"
"Well Melissa, he replied, we're not sure. We'd put out a notice to all government and private police, medical, and other public services to watch for any animals acting unusual, or any patients showing, um, strange reactions to being bitten by any animals, but so far, thankfully, nothing has turned up. That is until this morning when a police coroner sent in a report about a man who died from being bitten by a poisonous snake. It would appear the snake was infected by the goo, but the man died before he could change from the snakes poison.
"What kind of snake?" Melissa asked.
"Most likely a Tiger Snake, Dr. Milton replied, he was bitten on Mt. Chappell Island and they seem to be most numerous local poisonous snakes on the island. So we definitely have at least one infected snake running around, but there is another more horrible possibility. A woman working for the people who own a sheep farm has gone missing too. They found her clothes and right now the hypothesis is she was sexually assaulted and her body thrown into the ocean. But there are only a few people on the island, and they all have iron tight alibis. If one snake is infected there may be more, and I have a sneaking feeling she was bitten too and survived the bite, only to have the goo transform her."
Melissa shuddered. It would be bad enough to be changed into a croc, but a snake? And even if you were the most horrible part wouldn't come for a long time, but eventually your human intelligence would fade and only the snakes would remain, and the whole time you would be aware it was happening. To be changed into an animal, then to realize even your human mind was fading away must be horrible beyond belief. And so far the change was irreversible; the mutagen locked the new hosts DNA so it couldn't be altered again by any known means. And so far the goo had resisted all attempts at a full analysis; they still didn't even know how it worked or how to counteract its effects. The genius who had invented the stuff had been dead for several years, and all his notes and research either lost or destroyed. What should have been the greatest medical breakthrough in history was now instead a deadly; and horrible, threat.
"What's the plan Doc?" Melissa asked.
"Well, I'm assembling a team to fly out the island in a couple of days to take a look around, and we may be there for some time. I'd like to know if you; and some of your crew, might like to go along. You're a veterinarian, plus you've had "hands-on" experience with the mutagen. You help could be invaluable."
"When do we leave?" Melissa asked, already making plans in her head. No way would she miss out on this, and she was sure George, Lou, and Bud would feel the same way. She knew she could get to Sydney via a bush pilot she knew, so getting there in time to meet Dr. Milton and the rest of the team was not a problem.
Angie had found herself a lovely den, it was high and dry and deep enough in the side of the hill to be nice and cool during the hottest part of the day, and would stay warm at night. It was perfect for something like her, a man-killing monster as she now thought of herself. Poor Toby. She had decided it would be best for her to live like she was now rather than take a chance at killing another innocent person. Maybe she had done something to deserve this punishment; she certainly had after she'd changed. She was a murderer. More and more she had been letting her reptile mind take over as it was easier that way, the predator mind knew what it needed, and how to get it. It was raining outside today so she stayed nice and dry and watched the rain and trickles of water dripping over the entrance to the den. She didn't have much to think about anymore, it was a simple way of life. Her main concern was food, but she hadn't had any trouble feeding herself so far and seemed to be quite good at hunting. Fortunately there were plenty of feral cats and the rats they mainly fed on. So far she'd resisted feeding on the sheep, though she knew she could swallow a lamb easily. The human part of her knew that would draw unwanted attention if too many lambs went missing.
The last few days she'd felt a strange feeling come over her though, and she wasn't sure what it was. She wanted, needed, something. But what? Despite the rain she felt an urge to leave the den and find, again, what??? But for now she waited, the rain wouldn't last forever. And sure enough towards dawn the rain stopped and she slithered out of her den and into the underbrush. But she wasn't hungry, she was looking for something else.
She slithered through the grass and paused as she came across the trial of another snake. It was very fresh, and had been left by an adult male Tiger Snake. She licked her tongue over the scent and felt a strange longing for, company? So far she'd avoided; and once driven off, any other snakes she ran across. She had even established a kind of territory and figured she'd run off any trespassers. One look at her size intimidated any other snakes she ran across. But today she felt strangely lonely. And as she continued on her way she didn't yet realize she was leaving a trail of her own, one that would be irresistible to any male Tiger Snake who came across it.
Shortly after she passed the male came back along the trail he had left as he returned to his den, but the second he scented her trail he stopped and rapidly darted his head back and forth as he sampled the heady scent. With an eager hiss he started following the trail of the female as fast as he could. In short order he was joined by two more males who had also caught the scent of a female ready to mate. The trail was fresh, she couldn't be far away!
Angie writhed in pleasure in the center of the large ball of snakes of which she was the center of attention. She felt another male mount her as his penis penetrated her cloaca and swelled up locking them together. She had lost track of how many times she'd mated; and it, oh God, it felt so incredibly good! There must be at least twelve or more males in the ball now, and they curled and coiled around her rubbing their sleek powerful bodies and scents against her, driven by her own lovely scent and sleek welcoming body, to them she was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. As she writhed in sexual ecstasy another male joined the ball, any males who caught the scent would soon join the ball and would stay until they too had mated with the receptive female. Perhaps the fact she was so large had made her scent especially powerful, but her size did not bother her mates at all, they had no trouble "seducing" her and accomplishing their purpose. And she welcomed their attentions gladly, both the snake and human mind enjoying the pleasure the males gave her.
She'd tried to resist at first when she realized what was happening, just because she was a snake didn't mean she wanted to get laid by another snake! But she really had no choice as nature took its course. At first she tried to flee, but the males pursued her with single minded determination, and as she fled she spread her pheromones and more males joined the pursuit. I'm too big anyway, she'd thought, but once she gave herself over to her suitors she found they were more than well enough equipped to service even a female as large as she was. After she stopped fleeing she tried to ignore them at first, but their sleek bodies rubbing against and caressing hers had driven her into an aroused frenzy herself, and their male musk removed any inhibitions that remained. Oh God, oh God, it feels so good! She thought as they rubbed against her, and she opened herself to them and the lucky first one mounted her immediately and if she could have screamed in pleasure she would have. I'm being gang-banged, she thought deliriously, and it feels so good I never want it to stop! Each male mated with her twice, using first one, then the other of his twin penises. They wrapped themselves around the huge female as they coupled with her, their bodies quivering in pleasure as they pumped their seed into her. Some were good for more than one mating, but even the spent males stayed in the ball, driven by their lust and the pheromones drenching them as the caressed and coiled around her body. Angie twisted around to watch as male after male claimed her, thrusting and rubbing their belly bands against hers as they penetrated her and locked them together in an act of love millions of years old. The males showed their love for her by constantly stroking and caressing her body as they coiled around her, and the feel of their smooth sleek scales against her own was incredibly erotic and she quivered in lust and pleasure as male after male serviced her. And they never made a sound; the ball of writhing twisting entwined amorous reptiles was perfectly silent except for an occasional hiss of lust.
The mating lasted several days until her pheromones finally started to fade and the males slowly lost interest. It lasted much longer then a "normal" mating ball, again probably due to her great size and the intense concentration of her pheromones. But the males didn't care, it was fine with them. Her powerful mating scent attracted males from all over the island, many traveling miles to reach the source of that lovely scent. And they probably set a record for the sheer number of successful copulations as they made love to the object of their affection and she writhed in ecstasy as the mated with her. Angie watched as the last male mounted her, her tongue taking in his and her scents, and when he dismounted some time later he rested next to her for awhile, then left to return to his own home territory and she was alone. As she returned to her own den she had mixed feeling about what had happened, but the mating had been incredibly intense and pleasurable, there was no denying that. And her human part had enjoyed it as much as the reptile part. Who'd have thought snake sex was so great? It was a shame it only happened when she was in season, and she had no idea how often that would be, hopefully very often. As she slithered into her den to rest after the exhausting mating ball frenzy she had a sudden thought for the first time, what if she was pregnant?
She was, very much so, and she gave birth to thirty young fully formed snakes some time later, twenty two males and eight females. She had turned to watch as each young snake had emerged from her cloaca one at a time, one every minute or two. It didn't hurt much, and she found a strange satisfaction in knowing she was doing her duty as a female of her kind. And she felt something else, love for her young. As they emerged she rubbed them with her nose and licked her tongue over them to get their scents, and they in turn responded to her affection. When it was over she was exhausted and settled down to sleep, her new family coiling up next to her. Unbeknownst to her there were two things that would set her apart from "natural" Tiger Snakes. Because of her size, with its larger brain, and the fact the mutagen had mutated yet again she would retain most of her higher brain functions and memories, and her children would have a level of intelligence equivalent to humans. And unlike most snakes they would remain with their mother; at least for awhile, instead of heading out on their own. Though by instinct they were already capable hunters there was much she could teach them.
Melissa watched as the plane circled the small landing strip below. She'd done some reading up on Chappell Island and wasn't much impressed. It had mostly been forest to start with, but the introduction of sheep and other non-native species had decimated the original environment, and while it still had some heavily forested areas much of it was grazing land now. The island wasn't that large, but wasn't exactly small either. How the hell they'd find one infected snake and/or a changed human was beyond her. There were probably thousands of snakes, and not just Tiger Snakes. The small commercial passenger plane was heavily loaded with the team members, and some of their gear. The plane would return for another load which would arrive tomorrow. About this time Lou and Bud both said at the exact same time "Are we there yet?" as they had been every ten minutes since the plane left Sydney, but this time she was able to tell them "YES!" Maybe that would shut them up for more than a few minutes. The way they'd been pestering her; and George, was about to drive her bonkers. She had to constantly remind herself they were skilled field workers, not five year olds. Despite their totally different physiques and demeanors they were a crack team and worked well together. They were living proof that opposites attract. Their amazing resemblance to the famous old comedy team "Abbot and Costello" made more than one person take a double look the first time they met them. It was also the butt of endless jokes that they took in stride with good nature. As for George he looked like your stereotypical outbacker, right down to the khaki shorts and bush hat. He was rather less tolerant of the Crocodile Dundee jokes though, no bloody since of humor. And since he'd spent a few years in the SAS it wasn't wise to annoy him, but he was damn handy to have around when there was a cock-up. And for all his crusty appearance and personality he was really a big softie under that tough demeanor. To see him with a puppy or other baby animal you'd think he was totally different person, it was only people he didn't much care for.
As soon as the plane had taxied to a stop George was the first one out "To reconnoiter the area" as he put it, you'd think they were landing on a Japanese occupied island during WWII. After the rest of the team had disembarked and met the owner of most of the Island; and their host, they quickly moved to the main house to check out their quarters and get a briefing on the local layout. Melissa and Bud and Lou got to stay behind and unload the plane, seeing as they were the junior members of the team, and lowly volunteers to boot. Or "slaves" as Lou so aptly put it.
As they were unloading Bud dropped a suitcase and it came open. As he and Lou bent over to stuff the contents back inside Lou suddenly stood up holding a pair of panties and said, "Whoo whoo! Heeey Abbott!"
"Give me those!" Melissa shrieked, which of course just made Lou hold it out of reach. And for the next couple of minutes she had to play tag with the two immature little Berks as they passed her panties back and forth. Oh, they made her SO mad sometimes, but she couldn't help laughing. Noticing the two farm hands that had been helping unload the plane watching with their mouths open, she said,
"They can't help it, they're retarded."
"HEY! Said Bud, I resemble that remark!" and Lou said "I've been a baaaad boy."
Finally Melissa managed to retrieve her undies: after chasing them both for awhile longer, and they finally managed to finish unloading the plane without further incident, much to the relief of both her and the locals. Then they had to load most of the gear into a truck for the drive to their base of field operations, which was the small house where the man had died from the snake bite, and the girl had disappeared. The main house by the landing strip would be HQ, as George put it. The head "eggheads" would set up there, and they got to be the "grunts". He didn't show up again until just before they left in the truck, and somehow he'd already managed to find out quite a bit about what was going on. He had an amazing ability to find out information from people without them even realizing they'd given it to him.
The ride to the house was fairly short, and thankfully incident free except for the deliberately annoying "Are we there yets?" As soon they arrived at the farm the men folk set off to "reconnoiter" the area, as in goof off. So Melissa and a local named Charlie unloaded most of the gear and set it up. Later George crawled up on the roof and set up a dish; with lots of useless advice from Bud and Lou until he yelled at them to "stifle it!", which was a big help. As they worked Melissa couldn't help but be saddened by the evidence of a life that had been cut short. There were traces of the girl that had disappeared throughout the small house. Clothes in the closet, unmade bed, moldy food in the fridge, and more. She looked at some photos showing a pixie faced young girl with two older adults, and Charlie said that was Angie. Well, hopefully, one way or another they'd find out what had happened. Since there was just the one bedroom the boys got to rough it, either in the barn or in a tent, their choice. If they didn't like it, tough. She was the boss and a girl so she got the bathroom and bed. End of discussion. George would probably enjoy it, he probably liked to sleep naked in cactus. Bud and Lou would most likely pout and whine, but they'd get over it.
The next day they got started bright and early, and after one of George's famous breakfast feasts they put together a plan of operations. Melissa would team up with Charlie, and George got stuck with the morons. He was probably the only one who could handle the pair anyway. But in all fairness they did make good team of field workers. They mapped out a grid of "most likely" areas to check, and set out on their little field trips. Melissa and Charlie would check the immediate area of the house in case Angie had been drawn back to her old human home, and the others got to traipse around the countryside and see the sights which were mainly a lot of flatulent sheep.
While Melissa stayed behind George and his loyal followers climbed into the jeep and headed to the immediate vicinity of where the missing girls clothes had been found. Wearing shin protectors and carrying snake gaffs they spread out and headed towards some nearby wooded areas. This time of day that was where the snakes would most likely be hanging out for the cool shade. They also carried motion activated cameras to set up in promising locations. It didn't take them long to find some snakes, both Tiger and other kinds, but it was evident these weren't the one they were looking for, mainly because they were much too small. They were looking for a giant. They did check them for the goo though, and to their dismay found two snakes which were infected. These went in the collection bags, the rest they set loose. They had no idea they were being watched by more than one pair of intelligent eyes, watched and appraised.
Back at the farm Melissa and Charlie made a sobering find, pretty much by accident. Charlie went into the barn to get a couple of things, and Melissa came running when he yelled for her. As she approached the barn he emerged carrying snakes shed skin that was at least fifteen feet long. It was definite now as to what had happened to the poor girl; and Melissa got on her radio to let George know what they were up against. And to warn him to be very, very, careful. If Angie's human mind was fading she would be very confused and unpredictable. Unseen by them a three foot snake departed the barn through a crack in the wall and headed back to the main den.
Angie knew something was up as several of her young returned to the den sooner than usual. Due to their number they had to spread out over quite a large area to hunt the mice and rats they preferred. The young were still too small to feed on the cats their mother preferred. While not capable of speech they were able to communicate through a combination of sound, scent, body language, and instinct. Angie quickly knew something odd had upset her young, and that she needed to check it out. If it was a threat she would destroy; or drive it off, if she could. If that was beyond her capabilities she would round up her children and they would hole up in the den where they would be safe and could wait for a very long time before needing to venture forth again.
As they moved up the faint trail Bud and Lou ran across one of Angie's young out hunting. The snake had been concentrating on the entrance to a burrow trying to identify the occupant; and whether or not anything was at home, so it was taken unawares. When the loop from the snake gaff slid over its neck it came as a very unwelcome surprise. Scared and terrified the young snake called for help with a very loud and piercing hiss. And its mother and siblings heard, and responded.
With a deep hiss of rage Angie exited the den, followed by eight of her young who had been at "home". Frantic with worry she headed for the sound of her distressed baby, followed by her equally aroused brothers and sisters who spread out to cover more groung.
"Wow, said Bud, never heard a snake make a sound like that before!"
"It just hissing, said Lou, you would be too if some big goof picked you up around the neck."
"Naw, I'd bite em." Bud responded.
The snake kept hissing as it writhed and coiled around the shaft of the gaff, it was not in a good mood. But it calmed down when it got an answer, mommy was coming and mommy was MAD.
Angie slithered along the ground at an amazing velocity, her smooth streamlined powerfully muscular body moved easily through, and over, the ground cover. She didn't wait for the other young, and quickly outdistanced them. Emerging from some tall grass she found two men holding one of her young on the end of a pole. Slithering closer she reared up and gave a loud enraged hiss.
Lou was the first to see the huge snake as it exited the tall grass and reared up. Terrified he tried to talk, but could only point over his friends shoulder.
"Uh-erk, hammana, hammana, eek!" He spluttered as he pointed.
Bud just looked at him like he was goofy, and said, "You all right Lou, you sound like you're choking?" Then hearing a loud angry hiss Bud looked over his shoulder.
"S-S-SNAKE, BIG SNAKE!" Yelled Lou, as he led the retreat, followed closely by Bud who was still holding the smaller snake on the end of the pole. That was their big mistake.
With another enraged hiss Angie started in pursuit, followed by her young which had now caught up. They spread out with the intent of surrounding the enemy when they caught them.
George heard the screams first, and looking up watched as his "team" entered the clearing at a dead run. Lou ran with rapid little steps with his head tucked down whereas Bud ran with legs lifted high in the air like a crane and his arms pumping up and down. Bud was holding a snake gaff with a very vocal small snake swinging from the end. But it was what was following them closely that made Georges mouth drop open in shock. It was the biggest flippen snake he'd ever seen, and boy was it pissed off! George, using instincts honed by years of military service and hunting, dropped to one knee and aimed his trusty .303 jungle carbine without which he never went anywhere. But he hesitated, the snake had to be the one they were looking for, and it had once been human. She kept he carbine ready, but waited to see what developed.
Bud and Lou went right by him a top speed, but then came to a screeching halt as several more; thankfully much smaller, snakes came slithering down the trail towards them. More of Angie's young had been attracted by their sister's hisses of distress. They were now effectively surrounded. So Bud and Lou did an about face and ran back to the protection they hoped George could offer.
Angie slowed as she entered the clearing. The third man did not panic like the other two, and kneeling aimed a rifle at her. Seeing this she slowed to a stop and signaled her children to the same. They all stopped where they were and coiled. She coiled herself and lifted her head about three feet off the ground, her gaze darting from her young to the weapon pointed in her direction. She gave a soft hiss to reassure the terrified youngster. Mommy is here little one, don't be afraid. Stalemate, your move.
George was glad he hadn't panicked and opened fire when the huge snake stopped advancing and coiled. Then to his amazement it evidently signaled the other smaller snakes as they too coiled. And as he watched more and more of them slithered into sight before coiling and watching him with beady expressionless eyes. The big one kept moving it's gaze from George to Bud, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.
"Bud, let the snake go." George said softly.
"Wh-what snake?" gobbled Bud
Lou gave him a whack on the shoulder, ‘The one on the end of our gaff you big maroon!"
"Oh, THAT snake! I forgot about it." replied Bud.
Bending over he loosened the loop, and with what sounded like a very rude hiss the small snake quickly slithered over to the huge snake.
Angie lowered her head as the youngster approached, and worriedly nudged and licked her daughter to make sure she was uninjured. The young snake crawled up on its mothers coils and coiled itself in a tight circle. It knew it was safe now. Angie gave the three men a glare, and with a hiss signaled her children to retreat and go back to the den, then after the last one had disappeared from sight she uncoiled and turned to follow.
George watched the whole thing in amazement, as did Bud and Lou. There was no doubt the snakes were communicating and acting in a coordinated manner, which was not something you saw in reptiles very often. As the huge snake turned to leave George called out,
"Angie? Is that your name? Please wait."
Angie stopped suddenly, then turning her head she looked at the men with as close to an expression of surprise as could register on her hard fixed features. She hesitated uncertainly. She recognized that name from a long ago life that seemed like a dream now. Making a decision she signaled her young to keep going home, and then she turned to face the humans again, then coiled and raised her head again.
"Angie? My name is George, we're part of a search party sent here to find you, and we know what happened to you. You're not the first. We want to help you, and need your help as well so this won't happen to anyone else. Do you want our help?"
For the first time Angie felt something she hadn't for a long time, hope. She had resigned herself to living as an animal, and while it no longer seemed such a bad way to live she still wanted something better. Not only for her, but for her children as well. She could tell they were much more intelligent than their fellow snakes and knew this life would stunt their intellect, that despite that intelligence they would live out their lives as simple animals. So she nodded to the man, and settled back to wait.
Well, thought George, this is a bit of luck. We've found our missing "girl", and on the first day, no less. Thanks to the intrepid skills of our two marathon runners. Boy could they move fast when motivated. He got out his radio, and called Melissa,
Melissa listened with surprised glee as George reported in. Excellent! And the snake was evidently still capable of understanding human speech, which was a major plus. She would have hated to have to destroy the poor creature. She told George to wait for her, and calling Charlie she loaded some special equipment into the Rover and they headed out as fast as they could drive on the narrow trail. As Charlie drove she called HQ on the radio to let them know what had happened.
It only took them about half an hour to find George and his crew, and she was awed and amazed by the sheer size of the snake, and how beautiful it was. Melissa had built a special computer keyboard based to some extent on those used to communicate with primates, but her's included a full alphabet as well as symbols and colors. If the snake had much intellect left it should be able to communicate well enough. She slowly approached the snake, which watched her intently its tongue flicking in and out, and set up the keyboard and monitor, then stringing a cable she hooked it up to her own end.
Angie watched the woman carefully as she came closer; her interest aroused by the computer keyboard and monitor the woman was carrying. She remembered what they were, and knew how to use them. As soon as the woman was obviously through setting up Angie uncoiled and slowly approached. She paused and looked at the keyboard and screen. The keyboard had oversized keys, which she realized had been designed for someone without hands. Slowly she coiled again, and dipping her head she began to type by pressing her nose against the keys, first hesitantly and slowly, raising her head to keep an eye on the humans every so often, but as it came back to her speeded up considerably. She typed,
"I m Angie, plezs, how tis happened tu me?"
Angie raised her head and hissed, startled, as the humans gave a cheer. But knowing it meant no danger she quickly calmed down.
Instead of typing an answer, the female human said.
"Angie, I'm Dr. Melissa, a veterinarian. You were infected by an artificially created mutagen that has mutated and gotten out of control. So far though only you and two other people have been affected. Unlike you they became crocodiles."
Angie thought for a second, then typed,
"Did u hep them bck to peples?"
Oh dear, thought Melissa. "Not yet Angie, but we have the best scientist working on it. We hope we can reverse the process some day. All I can say is we'll never give up trying."
"I may I be lik dis fur gud?" Angie typed back.
"I hope not, Melissa said. We want you to come up with us to we can take care of you and hopefully help. We need to run tests. We'll treat you as a human, and your every need will be taken care of. I promise."
Angie thought a few minutes, the typed, "Wut abut my babys, I not go to lev dem."
"Babies?" Melissa said in surprise. She had arrived after the young snakes had left to return to the den.
"Yes, muh babys, Angie typed, I nut lev dem, dey mi famly I luv dem. Tel skny man he do wit pole agin muh baby I bit him n ead him up."
Melissa looked at the Bud, and said in an ominous voice,
"Bud, what did you do to her baby?"
Bud looked as innocent as possible, and replied, "Who me?"
In the meantime Lou, having recovered his cool, walked up behind Bud and looped the cord from his snake gaff over Bud's neck and tightened it.
"Aggghhkkkk!" said Bud.
"That's what he did to the poor little baby snake! The big brute!" said Lou.
Melissa couldn't help herself and started laughing, and George joined in with a deep chuckle. Lou was too busy avoiding Bud who was trying to loop his own gaff around Lou's neck now.
Angie watched expressionlessly, but wished she could laugh too as she remembered what that felt like. Dipping her head she typed,
"I lik fat man, he sily. I nu bit hm."
After it had calmed down to the point Bud and Lou were just exchanging shoulder punches while George stared at them rolling his eyes. Melissa turned her attention back to the huge snake.
"Angie, how many babies do you have? We can take them too. They'll all be infected by the mutagen, but we can eliminate it from their systems."
Angie wasn't too keen about that at first, eliminate? Did that mean hurt? With a hiss, she typed,
"Nu hurt babys? I nut let baby's be hurt. I stay wit dem in sted."
"No, no honey, we wouldn't hurt them. They would be taken care of, and as soon as they're free of the mutagen we can let them go back here if you want."
George spoke up, "Um, Melissa, her baby's aren't normal snakes. They can communicate and travel in coordinated packs."
"WHAT!?!" said Melissa,
At her loud tone Angie gave an alarmed hiss, and typed,
"Yss, babys smrt, they nut stopid like oter snakes is. I nut want dem be stopid snakes. I luv babys I nu leb dem"
Melissa thought about this unexpected new development with mixed feelings. One thing for sure if the snakes were that intelligent they couldn't be left to run around to breed naturally, snakes as smart as humans could be a big danger.
"Angie, we'll take care of the babies and teach them as much as we can, as you can. They need to be protected, people wouldn't understand. They would be scared and hurt the babies."
Angie quickly typed, "Yes, I nu dis is twue. I will cull my babys to com to me an we gu wid u. U tak gud care us."
Thank God, Melissa thought. If they spread out we'd never find them all. We'd have to exterminate every snake on the island. We wouldn't have any choice.
"Um, Angie, Melissa asked, how many babies do you have?"
"Bunches, they had us surrounded" Bud started to say, but a whack from Lou shut him up, so he just stuck out his tongue at him. George glared and made an "I'll slit your throat" motion which helped to shut them up.
Angie was confused, how many young did she have? For some reason she found the idea of counting strange. She knew each one of her young by their scents, and knew two had disappeared. Left to live on their own, or more likely had died from any number of reasons. She still grieved for them, and looked for them or their scent trails wherever she went. But as to the exact number? Finally she just typed,
"Many babys, sum boy sum grls. Dey all com wen I call dem. Dey gud kids. Not bit peples less me say so."
Melissa called HQ again and requested as many animal transport cages that they had, and told them the new development. Dr. Milton's reaction was rather loud, and she wished she could have seen his face.
Angie typed, "I go git kids now, be beck son."
Melissa watched as the huge snake gracefully uncoiled and quickly disappeared into the tall grass. How something so large could move so fast; and vanish so completely within a few feet, was amazing. She found she was looking forward to seeing the "babies". Then she headed down to the trail to meet the truck with the animal crates and called Dr. Milton on the phone again to make some more arrangements. For one thing they'd need a larger plane. Plus she aimed on volunteering her clinic and "zoo" as the new home for Angie and her babies.
Lou said to Bud, "If she has babies, then that means she did with another snake, don't it?"
George broke in, "Brilliant Einstein, I guess you DO know about the bird, the bees, and the snakes after all."
Bud replied, "Well she IS a snake, I mean, who else would she do it with? You volunteering Lou?"
"YOU are SICK!" shot back Lou.
George threw in, "Well, then at least you wouldn't be a virgin anymore mate."
"I am NOT a virgin!" Lou exclaimed rather vehemently. "I get by quite nicely, thank you very much!"
"Yeah, said Bud, with other guys!"
Then he had to run as Lou attacked him with his snake gaff while screeching obscenities.
George just watched with a big grin on his face as the two engaged in a mock sword fight using their poles. With friends like that, God help us!
Angie approached the den and gave a loud hiss, and the entrance exploded as her children came pouring out to greet her. She nudged and checked them, and yes they were all there. After several minutes the huge pile of intertwining coils separated into individual snakes and the young followed their mother back down the path and into an entirely new world.
With Angie's help to calm the young snakes they managed to get them all loaded into several cages, five to a cage for company, and because they didn't have any more cages. Angie was a bit of a problem because of her size, but they finally found an old dog cage in one of the main house's outbuildings that would work. Angie didn't care much for it, but accepted the necessity. Then with thanks all around to the locals who had been so accommodating and helpful they loaded up the plane and headed back towards the mainland. They left behind a small team to look for anymore infected snakes.
There was some debate over where to "house" Angie and her offspring, but Melissa finally won out. The Sydney Lab did not have any facilities for keeping animals other then rats or mice, so they finally agreed on the Outback Zoo as it had a fully equipped vets clinic, plenty of proper "living space", was isolated, there was plenty of room for expansion, and because Dr. Milton said so and he was the boss, end of discussion.
Angie was fairly pleased with the new accommodations for her and her children. The reptile house was fairly spacious and they had it all to themselves as the previous occupants had all been given new homes at other zoos that were glad to have them. Though the main door to the bunker like building was kept closed the inside doors to the various tanks and cages were left open so the snakes could pretty much come and go as they liked, and the trust that implied went a long way to winning over the youngsters to their new "friends". Plus the food was great, plenty of nice mice and rats for everyone, and Angie appreciated the piglets she was fed every few days. Beat cat. And the heated rocks were absolutely divine. Soon all the snakes were fat and happy.
Dr. Milton's crew brought back their mobile lab trailers and set up again, but this time plans were made for additional new permanent buildings. Both Melissa and the lab crew had a feeling they would be needed. Bud and Lou were put in charge of the upkeep and feeding of the snakes, and were soon quite popular with the little ones. It wasn't unusual to see one of them walking around the compound with a friend and admirer draped around their neck.
Angie's cognizant skills came back dramatically, and within a week she was typing faster and much more lucidly. Her phonetic spelling was gone, to be replaced by crisp sentences with perfect spelling and structure. But despite the improvements all the news wasn't good. They asked her what they should do about her parents, and she told them to tell her parents she was dead. She couldn't bear for them to see her like she was now. She really no longer had any major problems with being a snake, but knew it would be too much for her mother to handle. So they respected her wishes and let the police report of "missing, presumed dead, stand. Plus it was evident that much more research was needed before there was any hope of a "cure". The fact the mutagen had evidently mutated again was also great cause for concern, but good in Angie's case as she would retain her intelligence and her offspring were just as smart; and they were even learning to use the communication keyboard which was a big surprise.
Dr. Milton was tired, but happy overall. Much had been accomplished in the last few days. Now that Angie and her "babies" were settled in it was time for him to head back to Sydney and take care of business there. So much to do, and not enough time. He looked up as Melissa walked by the door to the office he had commandeered, and he gave a nervous swallow. He had always been so engrossed in his work he had never paid much attention to the members of the opposite sex, but he'd never met anyone like Melissa before. She was funny, brilliant, and he enjoyed just being near her. He was a little older then her, but not that much. Well, he thought, I'll never know unless I try. He got up and followed her to her own office.
Melissa looked up, and smiled a genuine smile as Dr. Milton entered her office. She liked the shy man very much; he was sweet and didn't look down his nose at anyone. Even George liked him, which to her was a big recommendation. She figured he'd come to talk about some more details, but he seemed strangely tongue tied for a change.
"Hello Melissa, he said, Um, I need to be heading back to Sydney to make some more arrangements, and um, thought you might like to come along? We'll need you to go over some paperwork and other stuff, and um, if you'd like I know a, um really nice little Indian place that has lamb curry to die for. I mean, if you, um, like Indian cuisine, that is." Good lord, he thought, I sound like a teenager.
"Why Dr. Milton, Melissa replied, are you asking me out on a date sir?"
"Oh my, said Dr. Milton, was I that obvious?"
George, who had been snooping about in his usual "low profile" mode had heard the whole thing from the hall. He stuck his head around the doorjam, and pointing at Dr. Milton voiced a silent "Say yes!" at Melissa.
Melissa put her hand to her mouth to smother a guffaw when she saw George acting like a mime over the doctor's shoulder, but when she saw the crestfallen look on Dr. Milton's face she quickly sobered up, and said,
"Why Dr. Milton, I thought you'd never ask, and yes, I'd be delighted to go out to dinner with you. And I love Indian food."
Dr. Milton felt a big grin split his face, "Excellent! And please, call me Stanley, or Stan."
George made a face and silently said "STANLEY?"
Melissa almost cracked up again, and talking to Dr. Milton said, "Excuse me for just a mo Stanley; I need to take care of a problem."
Walking past a startled Stanley she exited the office and chased George down the hallway as he beat a retreat. But when he went into the men's room she caught up with him.
Setting her shoulders she followed him into that most holy of all male sanctuaries.
"Hey, said George, you can't come in here!"
Lou, who was having a whiz voiced the same basic sentiment as he did his best to finish, but ended up peeing all over his pants.
Melissa walked up to the George and gave him a gentle slap, then turned to leave.
"Hey! George said, wot was that for?"
"You know!" Melissa replied, and with a smile at Lou she exited the bathroom and went back down the hallway to her office.
"All taken care of Stanley, she said, now when do we leave? And should I bring a night dress, or will it be casual dining?"
George looked at Lou who was opening his mouth to say something, and held up his finger.
"Don't ask mate." George said, and then he exited the bathroom and left a dumbfounded Lou trying to dry his pants off with the hand blower.
George sat on the bank; well away from the water, and threw another big chunk of Roo meat to the two crocodiles. One of them snatched it out of the air with a happy hiss.
"Hello Robert, hello Suzie-Q my love." He said sadly.
He came here whenever he had a chance, and always made sure to bring along a treat for the two crocs. He didn't know if they even remembered him or not, but didn't care. They always came in a hurry and crawled out on the bank; sometimes accompanied by smaller crocs which were probably their children, whenever he showed up though. At least they were still smart enough to know he always had a treat for them. He thought they knew him though, from the way they looked at him sometimes, almost with what he thought was affection.
The End
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