Treedom [Mutts vs Ufos] Day 3

nell cyprus




Wolves howl all night. They are angry. Hungry. They can't find me, but they are relentless. Claws tap against steel, up and down hallways. Both hands cover my mouth. I cannot make a sound.

It lasts for hours. A wicked game of cat and mouse where the mouse sits immobilized in fear. I am always the mouse. Every time they come, every time the wolves hunt me, I am still. I am afraid.

There's no point in keeping with tradition now. I wait for them to prowl past. Doubt is swallowed with spit. I peel off the wall, skin long overgrown ripping from my back, and after hundreds of nights cowering I leap. My laser blaster is in hand. My heart pounds against my chest. My finger curls around the trigger. A roar like a grizzly's escapes as I shoot.

Gentle wings kiss the air instead of lasers. The butterflies flap their sleeping bodies awake and turn toward me. I look at my gun, and back at the nakom, and further to the wolves. At once they all charge.

I wake with fangs pressed into my mind. Sky snores a few feet over. She sounds more like a grizzly than I ever could. I sigh. Egghead is lucky I didn't die today. Lucky I didn't drop into the sea. And I'm lucky for…

I roll to face the redhead. "Hey, Dusty?" I don't wait to see if she's awake. "Thanks for that. Saving me." There's more doubt to swallow. (Gulp.) "You risked your life. For me. That… is the coolest shit anyone's ever done for me." I'm looking up again. Can't let her see. My nose wrinkles. I slide my hand to Dusty's and squeeze.

I'm back to sleep in seconds.

ooo

Above my head is a sign for "Eden's First Garden." I don't think she had a second. The entire area is a jungle, here and above. Treetops stretch down to us, roots in the roof. Green fills every inch. This place feels alive. It has to be. I inhale and I am full. I am warm. The ship shutters, but I am fine. It howls like my dreams. I go deeper. There's always more. The gamemakers wouldn't waste this haven.

Maybe that's just it.

It's beautiful. It's vibrant. It's addicting. The locale does the work for them. My feet are still. "Guys, I want to live here." I turn to them both. "When we're forty. Let's go, yeah?"

I push a hanging plant out my face. It swings back. Forth. Back. I catch it in my left hand. My right plucks a long, dead leaf. I scrunch my lips and hold it under my nose. My makeshift mustache is ready. I Furrow my brow. Crouch down. Bend my knees. I speak, low and husky. "Howdy, fresh mornin' biscuits! This here's Uncle Corny! If we leave, Uncle Corny will, too!" If they laugh, cool. If they don't laugh, whatever. I'm making them leave either way. For survival.

We aren't the fittest. We have to be more.

I sneeze and drop my mustache leaf. It drifts away, off the path. I glance at Dusty and Sky… they might need more convincing. I run after the runaway, see it at the edge of a wide open-mouth plant.

It sucks me in before I grab my mustache. Fuck you! I try to yell but only think. I am waist-deep in plant. What the fuck.

I try to squirm. Outside my legs, I mostly fail. A thick wax coats its walls, now coats my skin, my face, my clothes. I scream and scream but the energy is wasted. The screams are just for us. Me and the plant. It turns out I won't die alone after all.

Then through the walls I hear uproar.Sounds of ripped roots and loose limbs. The voices of Sky, of Dusty. I knew it, because I did. But I am too late. We walked right into their trap. We are always the mice.

When I hear scuffle, my grip tightens on my blaster. My wrist flexes back. I wait to hear the sound of genetic engineering. As soon as I do, I point and pull.



Nell attacks Joshuah tree with laser blaser x8
rJqVRn|NjIthrowing knife
Deep gash on tree chest 9.5

Putrid is too mild. It fucking stinks.

Inside the plant is steamy. Sticky heat, sweating walls. Mucus pools inches from my face. Wax seals me in place. Loose hairs fall, fry. Not long before I fry too.

At least I'm not cold.

A fresh flow of sludge leaks in. The plant digesting me. Acidity overwhelms. My nose crinkles. The air stings, eyes watering. Sludge rises. Sheer tulle hanging from my headband begins roasting. Disintegrating. My hair follows. Split ends splitting. Sizzling. Smoldering. Smoke fills the plant. Rushes into my lungs. I heave, smoke greeting smoke. Chest aches with expulsion. Any other day, raucous coughing would unnerve me. Now my nerve is gone. Shriveled away, hiding in my veins. I can't move. I can't breathe. I can't see. I can't scream. I can only allow.

So I do.

Dammit, I need vodka.

Flesh splatters my face. The smog empties from a fresh gash. My nose crinkles: a different burning smell. Artificial. Laser. There's a roaring cry. The muttation in pain. I slide through newly slit plant, head hitting hard against the ground - ceiling. The ceiling. A heap of slime oozes out the wound onto me. I take it as motivation. I get up, kick the thing in the laser hole. "Garden of Eden, my ass."

I turn in time to see a tree spiraling out. I've been there. Branches swing wildly. The arms of a toddler in tantrum. Leaves dart out without a care. Trunk spinning in circles. That shit could use some vodka, too. When its branches rip across Sky's leg, everything tightens. I can't be friends with a tree. I have enough bark for a forest.

Rooted, I aim at the son-of-a-branch.




Nell attacks joshie-poo w laser x 7
uTpWwyG7Pwthrowing knife
Miss, day 1 accuracy
throwing knife
Shallow cut tree-arm 3.0