Slither - Edward Lee [12]
The trail narrowed; the woods grew more dense. Jesus. I practically need a machete ... He stopped to rest a minute, leaned against a tree.
What the ...
Something had poked into his back. Feels like a nail. He examined the palm tree's trunk and, sure enough, sticking out of a seam in the bark was something that looked like a nail or a wood screw. Fatter, though, the width of a cigarette, and maybe a half inch sticking out. But when he squinted closer he thought he saw-
Glass?
A bead of something clear in the center of the nail head. He ran his fingertip over it. Indeed, it felt smooth, like glass.
Glass as might be found in a tiny lens-.-. .
That's not a camera lens, is it? It couldn't be.
Why? What purpose?
Then it dawned on him: It's a hidden surveillance camera from the old missile site, he reasoned. And obviously not operational anymore. The missile site was emptied out, abandoned.
Strange, though.
The most paranoid part of him had to wonder. Maybe it still is operational. He looked directly at the small studlike protrusion. Maybe some army security guy is looking at me right now ...
"Naw," he muttered and laughed. Impossible. The lens hadn't been hooked up to anything for twenty years.
Snap!
Alan twirled.
Fear surged for a second, but he knew he'd simply been spooked by the camera. Either an animal had snapped a twig, or it had been Howie and Carol ...
"Hey, you guys! Where are ya?"
The woods sucked up the call. He wended farther out, toward the sound. Then-
What the fuck?
At his feet lay a bikini top. A chartreuse bikini top. Can't be Leona 's. Hers was back at the shack, and it wasn't this color, and it couldn't be Carol's either because she'd been wearing a bright floral-patterned bikini. Had it fallen out of their bags? Impossible, he was sure. When they'd walked to the shack, they came from the other direction. Alan picked up the top. The tag read 32 B. Definitely not Carol or Leona's. The top felt damp, and was flecked with bits of dirt and leaves. Been here a while ...
But so what?
Some chick was probably partying out here months ago, and left her top. That had to be it.
Alan grew frustrated. He called out some more, received no response. Overhead, the palm branches were so dense they melded into one another, darkening the forest.
Snap!
"Hey! Come on, you guys! This is a pain in the ass! Where are you?"
This was pissing him off. He stalked forward, peering deeper. Then, for a split second, he saw a girl disappear between some trees about thirty yards away.
A naked girl.
Carol, he knew The shape of the body looked right, and it was her same long, shiny auburn hair. A second flash of her confirmed it: she was naked save for the hot-pink tennis shoes. Alan dashed clumsily ahead, crunching branches and dried palm fronds. "What the fuck are you two up to?"
When he got to where he'd seen her: silence.
Then a jolt shot through him and he almost screamed.
"No peeking," Carol whispered. She stood behind him and-covered-his eyes with her hands.
"Carol! Jesus Chr-"
"Shhhhhhhhh!"
He stood stock-still, could feel her bare breasts and belly pressing his back. "Keep your eyes closed," came her next whisper. Her voice sounded parched, in need. Her hands slipped down to his crotch.
Well, now, this is very interesting, Alan thought.
"You know what they say," she cooed in his ear. "If you keep your eyes closed, it's not cheating ..." Her hand worked into his trunks; her hips squirmed against him.
"And who was it that said that?" he asked.
"My uncle."
Alan pondered the whispered response, then thought, Gross.
"No talking. And keep your eyes closed," she insisted.
Alan couldn't find much of a reason to disobey. He remained standing, and let her continue with her hands...
"I ... I don't even know what they are," she said next. Her voice seemed to flow, like some hot, dark liquid. "But it's so wonderful. I feel like I'm coming ... all ... the time ..."
Alan didn't know what she was talking about, and scarcely cared. He felt her move around him now and lower herself to her