Chapter 10
https://firdausnovels.blogspot.com/2024/03/blog-post_21.html
Anaconda Island
Anaconda Island by Asmaa Nada
Chapter 11
An hour later
Mary finished bandaging Clark's wounds, just as Antoine and Mark finished cutting the cooked venison meat and distributing it over tree leaves that they had made into plates. Elizabeth and Tina had cut the vegetables and fruits, and then they all sat for a few minutes eating in silence. That silence was interrupted by Clark's hysterical laughter, followed by... Raymond and Tina, but Mark and Mary were looking at them with some anger, so Antoine, Alice, and Elizabeth started laughing as well at the looks of Mark and Mary, then Clark said after he had calmed down.
"Don't look at me like that, Mark. I told you not to try to cross that barbed wire, and that time is running out and we must return."
Tina said, "Clark, it's enough that if he hadn't passed over that wire, we wouldn't have noticed those eyes."
Raymond said, “Oh God, only his head appeared, and then from the opposite side of the head, hundreds of meters away, there was that strong ringing sound that resembled the ringing sound of a rattlesnake’s tail, a sound that shook the trees around us. It was similar to that sound when the snow collapsed on top of the ship.”
Clark, “but the appearance of Mark coming back next to us and shouting (the head is from that direction and the tail from the opposite direction) then he falls and gets up and I am trying to hold his hand so that he does not fall again while he insists on saying (how is the head here and the tail there) Dear Mark, there is a possibility That there are two of them, or that the sound is coming from some device.”
Mark, “No, they are not two, and it is not a sound coming from a device. I am sure that that sound is made by the rattlesnake when it moves its tail, then the head rises until it reaches the sky, and when it moved away, the sound stops.”
Tina: “It's just a coincidence, but that's not what's funny about it. What's funny is that the fox that we saw was huge and looked like a cat next to the only visible part of that snake's body.”
Alice said, "Why are you laughing? It's scary and not funny."
Raymond said, “What is frightening is that that snake, serpent, cobra, or even if it is a dragon, he speaks English and Arabic, he is a speaker, and not only that, he can also control the color of his body. When he was standing among the trees, the head was a simulation of the tree leaves and the neck was a simulation of the main tree trunk.”
Alice said, “How did you know he was a speaker and spoke languages?”
Raymond said, “He said in English and then in Arabic, ‘I warned you not to search for the secrets of the island.’ He said it when Mark passed between the wires.”
Mary said, “Can you imagine that it is possible that as we move in the morning, we are leaning on his body and thinking it is a rock or a tree trunk? Damn it.”
Tina said, “Why are all the animals we have met so far afraid of him, and only foxes attack him, not directly, just to distract attention from us?”
Clark said, "Why are they afraid of him?! Yes, you did not see him swallowing the snake-headed crocodile. He put the crocodile's head up to his front feet inside his mouth one time, and here the color of the head became close to dark brown like the color of the crocodile, then the huge snake remained. It remained at that high height, which was higher than the trees near it, until the rest of the crocodile’s body stopped moving, and then it began to swallow it whole. He did that while I was wrestling with that huge tree creature, then he stood and watched how we wrestled as if he was enjoying a round of wrestling.”
Antoine said, “It is enough for us to hear some of the scenes that happened. Can you tell, Marie, what happened in a little detail? I think Tina can help you.”
Mary said, “After we parted, Mark and I decided to join Clark and Raymond so that we could take a map that would guide us to the path to the laboratory, or what we thought was a medical laboratory, as recorded on the walls of the cave. After we arrived at the cave, we found the maps in place, with a stone over them so that they would not fly away, and this “It is strange, of course, because when we escaped last time, Raymond did not place a stone on top of the maps. We also found a warning that had been carved through the hoof of an animal, but the blood found was human. Anyway, we decided to go and look for that laboratory.”
(Back in time)
“Come on, tour guide,” Tina said.
Raymond looked at them and shouted desperately, "Fuck you all!"
The sound of the foursome's laughter rose together at Raymond's reaction, and Raymond also laughed in turn, then they all moved in the opposite direction to the beach, penetrating further into the island, not thinking about the risks they were putting themselves into. After an hour of wandering among the trees, they reached a riverbed that fell into the beginning of a great waterfall, and there was a man-made bridge near the descent of the waters of the waterfall. There are also a few pipes below the water falling from a high height that they cannot determine. The pipes from the top were in the shape of an inverted triangle, its beginning inside the nozzle of the pipe and its base upwards, leading to the passage of Some water fell into the pipes, and next to each pipe, there was a large pottery pot with two hands tied to them with ropes. Also attached to the bottom of the pottery are some types of wooden wheels to make it easier to move the pot across the forest floor. But what is strange about the matter is that the appearance of these pots indicates that no one used them. For years, even centuries.
“I was worried about how we would get drinking water when the bottles in our bags ran out,” Clark said.
Mark said, "Do you think this water is safe to drink?"
Raymond said, “I think so, otherwise why would they make those pipes to collect water?”
Mary said, “The strange thing is that this indicates the presence of humans on that island, but why was it not recorded on any recognized global map?”
Tina said, “I think that island was abandoned for very important reasons.”
Clark said, "Anyway, we're here now. Help me, Mark, and Raymond, fill one of those containers so we can take it back."
Mark said, “Yes, and we leave the brushes here as well, and until the container is full, we can collect the wood. It is also good that you tied those huge logs to the brushes.”
Raymond said, "Yes, it's Tina's idea so we have enough wood to last more than one night."
The young men aggressively dragged the bowl to the bottom of one of the pipes, walking around to collect wood while the large wheeled bowl was filling up, and the girls tried to discover the place and collect some fruits without straying from the riverbed, and as more than two hours passed, the girls usually ran screaming.
"Hide behind the containers quickly."
The guys left the logs on the mattresses and then Mark and Tina stood behind Pot and Raymond. Mary behind another bowl, and Clark had not yet returned from among the trees. Only moments had passed and that huge snake-headed crocodile appeared, heading towards the waterfall. Then he stood with his head raised beneath the falling water, drinking from it. Clark returned during that time, and as he approached, he saw The creature carefully place the wood on the ground, then move very slowly and lean against a tree trying to remain motionless. Indeed, the crocodile did not notice him, and after a few minutes, the crocodile was returning from the same path from which it had come.
After he disappeared from their sight, Clark said, directing his speech to Mary
“Our biologist, what is this thing? A snake or a crocodile.”
Mary said while laughing, “It is a hybrid resulting from the mating of a crocodile with a snake, but no one told me so that I could attend the wedding.”
Tina said, "You're kidding. He was holding in his mouth when we met him near that other lake the head of a deer. He had four fangs that resembled the fangs of shark teeth or the teeth of the saw with which we cut wood."
Mark said, “Calm down, he’s gone, and now we have to remove that container, it’s full, and then we can continue on our way to look for that laboratory.”
Raymond said, “Why don’t we go back and sit on the beach and wait for any ship? Surely a ship will pass by.”
Clark said, "Don't be afraid, Raymond. I am by your side. I will fight anything and save you."
Raymond said, "Will you promise me that?"
Clark placed his hand on his chest and said, "I promise, I will fight until my last breath."
Tina shouted excitedly, "Me too, Clark, I won't let these things eat me up!"
Raymond said, “I will be in front and you will be behind me until that mongrel eats me.”
They all moved behind Raymond, and Clark was leading the steps so that he was in line with him, and the trio was following them, side by side. After nearly another hour, in which they moved parallel to the mountain, something resembling a high wall of plants appeared in front of them, which turned out to be growing on top of barbed wire. Mark whispered as he looked. Among the wires after removing some plants
“This is not a medical laboratory, it is an army laboratory. Clark, can you cut those wires with this knife?”
Clark said, “Why do we cut it off? Something cut off that part before us, and even cut off the electricity from the wires.”
Raymond said in amazement, “Electricity!?”
Clark pointed to the top of the wires, there was a box with a closed indicator light attached, and Tina said
“This is true, the bulb is off, that is, no electricity is connected to it.”
Clark: “We are now returning to the beach. Time is running out and sunset is approaching. Mark, stop, don’t pass by now.”
Mark did not pay attention to Clark's speech and passed to the other side of the wire, then turned around, opened his arms, and said
“There is nothing, we only see the place for half an hour from the outside and...”
The tree, which was about a meter away from the group on the side of the mountain, shook violently, then eyes radiating red appeared, and the head of the giant snake began to change its color to a dark black color, then a strong voice rang out from behind Mark, the sound of bells shaking with strength and anger, those bells similar to that sound that... An illusion was heard on the ship and caused the snow to collapse. From the direction of the sound, the trees began to collide with each other from above, as if a hurricane was passing near them. The movement of the huge snake’s head made them all think that it was striking the clouds with its height. Then the snake spoke and said in English.
“I warned you not to search for the secrets
of the island, but you, like others, are searching for your destruction.”
Then repeat the warning in Arabic
Click on the picture
