Anaconda

Denise nodded weakly and followed Teri towards the cabin. She looked up at Gary and tried to give him a smile but Gary looked away. Sighing heavily, Denise went into the cabin. When she had gone, Gary looked to where Denise had been standing and gazed at the door longingly. His eyes then traveled down to the deck where he stared for the next few minutes.

Once inside, Teri had Denise change the gauzes on Cale. Closing the door, Teri stated, "We're retaking over the boat."

Nodding, Denise asked, "Are we all going to rush Serone?"

"Yes," Teri replied. She added almost in a whisper, watching Denise carefully, "We're also going to apprehend Gary."

Denise stopped dressing Cale and turned to Teri. She asked, "By what means?"

"By any means necessary," Teri replied quietly, revealing Cale's forty-five under her blouse.

Denise's eyes widened in horror. She gasped, "No! You can't do that to him!"

"I fear Serone more than Gary, you know that," Teri replied, covering the pistol with her blouse. She continued, "I don't want it to come to this but we just may have to use it on both of them."

"It won't come to that with Gary!"

"I wish I could agree with you Denise, but you know Gary's been acting abnormally lately. There's no telling what he may do to anyone of us; including you."

Shaking her head, Denise refused, "No, he would never hurt anyone of you and he definitely wouldn't hurt me." She ran her hand through her hair and cried, "I know Gary's not acting how he normally does but it's only temporary! He's not really like this! Come on! You know him better than that! There has to be another way."

Teri watched Denise begin to cry. She moved over to Denise and began helping her finish putting on the gauze. Teri said, "There is no other way," Teri cut in softly. "If we try to take Serone first, Gary might try to help free Serone. But, if we capture Gary first, Serone may not even care. He won't try to help Gary. Don't you see, this is the only chance we've got!"

Denise demanded, "But what if it was Cale? What if Cale was in Gary's place? Wouldn't you want to try and talk some sense into him? Wouldn't you want to give him a chance to come back to you?"

Staring carefully into Denise's pleading eyes, Teri asked, "What do you have in mind?"

"Just let me talk to him," Denise begged.

Teri sighed, "You've got five minutes."

Denise gave a sigh of relief and smiled gratefully at Teri. Teri continued, "If I don't see any signs of improvement then we're going to use my plan, okay?"

Denise nodded and started towards the door. Teri called her back, "I'm going to be keeping an eye on you and so is Whitridge. If we see that you're in trouble we'll cover you."

"I'm not afraid of Gary," Denise told her, giving a slight smile. "I do not fear him nor do I see any reason for me to."

"Just the same," Teri whispered, "Be careful and I hope you know what you're doing."

Denise smiled, gazing at the doorframe, "Saving my love from a horrible fate, that's what I'm doing. Our love is for always and forever. Nothing can ever change that."

Teri nodded, looking back at Cale and then at Denise, "I know how that is."

Denise headed out the door while Teri remained in the cabin to kneel next to Cale. As Denise started towards the stairs Serone called her name. Denise quickly looked to him as he asked, "Where's Teri?"

"She's staying with Cale for a little bit," Denise replied. "He's still unconscious but Teri keeps hoping that he'll wake up."

Serone nodded and then turned back to cranking the line with the monkey bait on it. Seeing that Serone was no longer interested in her, Denise focused on the second floor. She saw Gary staring at her with a melancholy, painful frown.

Gary glanced down at the rifle and then at Denise. He saw tears in his beloved's eyes and wished that he had not joined Serone. Guilt and anger swelled in Gary's throat as he tried to decide how to make things right again. He lifted his eyes past Denise and saw Serone giving him an icy glare. Guiltily, Gary quickly returned his threatening frown.

Taking a deep breath, Denise started up the stairs. Once she reached the top, her eyes fell on Whitridge at the helm of the ship, staring at her in surprise. Then her gaze shifted as Whitridge altered his gaze from Denise to Gary slowly walking Denise's way. For the second time Denise felt a chill sweep through her as she watched her boyfriend's cold eyes stare into hers.

When Gary got within five feet of Denise, his overcast expression changed to a mixture of sorrow and friendliness. His steps quickened as he approached his unmoving girlfriend. Two feet in front of Denise, Gary stopped and a frown flickered across his lips as he watched Denise gaze at the rifle in fear and give a small cry.

Lowering the rifle, Gary emptied the bullets and presented both the rifle and the bullets to Denise, saying, "These belong to someone who won't use them against the people that the person loves and cares about."

Denise gave a small gasp, gazing from the rifle to Gary's eyes, as if understanding his motives. Gently taking the rifle, Denise laid it against the railing and put the bullets in her pocket. Her eyes flickered back into Gary's eyes and for awhile the two held each other in a loving gaze.

Denise broke the silence by asking, "What made you change your mind?"

"You," Gary whispered. "I realized that love and friendship were more valuable than money and a suicidal documentary." He took a deep breath and continued, "I don't know what came over me last night. I thought I would be doing all of us a favor by deciding to help Serone. I thought that if we helped him, he would get us out of here and we'd also be able to film him catching Anaconda and Todo."

"But I thought Todo was your friend," Denise inquired. "Why would you want to help Serone capture them?"

Gary lowered his eyes and whispered guiltily, "There was a million dollar bonus added to it. I thought we could use the money for more equipment and start our own film company."

"There's other ways to earn money," Denise told him softly.

"I know, I know," Gary replied. He continued, cursing himself, "I was so stupid Denise! I was so stupid! I should of known better but I couldn't resist Serone's deal." He gazed into Denise's eyes and asked, "Can you ever forgive a greedy fool?"

"Oh Gary," Denise sobbed, letting a couple tears slide down her cheek. She whispered, drawing Gary to her, "Of course I forgive you." She felt her lips press against Gary's. Pulling away slightly, Denise whispered, "I love you so much Gary."

"Of course you do," Gary smiled, giving her a small kiss on the lips. "For always and forever I am yours."

"I'm glad," Denise whispered. "Everything is going to be fine now. We're going to retake over the boat."

"But Serone's stronger than a lot of us," Gary voiced slight concern, receiving another kiss from Denise.

"He's not stronger than love though," Denise replied. She felt herself leaning against the railing and her body sliding down to the floor. She continued caressing Gary while receiving tender kisses from him. Their hearts began to beat as one, neither realizing that the jungle had mysteriously gone quiet or that they had drawn Serone's attention.

Serone watched the romance unfolding near the bridge. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Gary went back to his friends, he just hadn't expected it to happen this soon. He had seen Gary relinquish the rifle to Denise and could barely hear the words spoken to one another. He fought deciding between watching for the anaconda and making sure he still had control of the boat.

Already Danny and Teri were watching Gary and Denise from their table. It seemed to Serone that everybody was plotting against him and it would only be a matter of time before he lost control of the ship. Not wanting it to come to that, Serone started towards the stairs, determined to retain the authority of the ship.

From the brush on the bank of the river, Anaconda quietly observed the ship. She recognized Serone and immediately began to hiss. The anger she felt towards the snake hunter was more emotion than she had ever felt. She recalled when Serone had captured her husband but instead of tranquilizing him for shipment over the states, Serone had killed him. Now she wanted the dastardly human to pay for his crimes.

Slithering into the water, Anaconda stalked towards the ship. She noticed that another anaconda had picked up the scent of the monkey in the water and knew that the new anaconda could prove to be a problem for her mission. Still, she swam onwards towards the boat.

Serone stalked up the stairs, aware that Teri and Danny were carefully observing his ascent up the stairs. As confident as he was about being able to hold everyone at bay, Serone got a constant feeling that it would only be a matter of time before he would be forced to relinquish command and would be taken out. But for the time being, Serone would take care of Gary and Denise. Maybe with their removal the others wouldn't be so quick in trying to get the upper hand of him.

When he reached the second floor and put his foot down. He grinned at Gary and Denise as they were engaged in passionate fondling. Serone glanced up and saw Whitridge watching him with apprehension and suspicion.

Giving Whitridge a smirk, Serone laughed, "Well if my eyes didn't deceive me! I'd say that we have a double-crossing son of a bitch on my boat."

Pulling apart quickly, Gary turned to Serone and rose, saying, "For one, this is not your boat. Number two, I'm not a double-crossing son of a bitch. You are!"

"Hey," Serone laughed, throwing his hands up mockingly, "I'm not the one who turned against my friends in the first place like you did Gary."

Gary's eyes dropped to the floor. Denise rose and stood in front of Gary, gripping his hand comfortingly and telling Serone, "It's true he turned against us but at least he didn't use our trust and friendship to his advantage and take over our boat."

"Are you sure Babybird?" Serone questioned with a small grin. "There's a devil inside of everyone you know, even Gary."

Denise gave Serone a piercing glare. Serone continued, "You could have been rich Babybird if you had let your boyfriend here help me. You could have had a million dollars."

"I'd rather die than watch you kill Gary and my friends on this suicide mission!"

"Granted," Serone smiled. He suddenly grabbed Denise by the arm and wretched her from Gary. Slamming her to the floor, Serone pulled out a black pistol and pointed it at Denise saying, "May God take care of you in heaven Babybird."

"No!" Gary screamed as he watched Serone take aim at Denise. He leapt in front of Denise as Serone pulled the trigger. He felt the bullet strike him in the upper shoulder. He landed in front of Denise and raised his weary head to meet the cold glare from Serone.

From below, Teri and Danny watched with horror, unsure if their help would only cause Serone to kill both Gary and Denise. For the moment, they all were under Serone's command and there was nothing they could do except watch.

Serone stated, "I'll give you one last chance to join me, Gary." He cocked the gun at Gary. "You don't need this extra baggage. Just step aside and I'll end it."

"No," Gary gritted. He moved more protectively over Denise and stated, "Over my dead body will you take her life!"

"That can be arranged," Serone sneered and aimed the pistol at Gary's head.

Gary stared determinedly at the gun and Serone. He thought, "So this is how it's going to end. Just me and Serone. This is what it's going to come down to."

Just then Anaconda bumped hard into the boat, causing the boat to give a tremendous shudder. The second anaconda swam for the monkey bait and greedily took a nibble. It felt the hook tear into its upper jaw and hook it in place. The anaconda gave a mighty scream and began pulling at the cord, jerking the steel wrench on the ship.

Serone quickly looked at his trap and saw the twisting cord and knew that he had snared one of the giant anacondas. Once his eyes broke contact with Gary's, Gary took the opportunity and lunged at Serone. He slammed into Serone and knocked him into the side of the cabin.

Anaconda raised her head out of the water and gave an angry scream as she saw Serone on the second floor. She eyed the humans on both floors with curiosity but then was drawn away by the thrashing of the second anaconda on the cable.

Whitridge pulled the lever to stop and stuck his head out the cabin door. He motioned for Denise to come to him. Looking from Whitridge to Gary, Denise saw that Gary had Serone momentarily pinned against the wall. Unsure of what to do, Denise continued to shift uncertain glances from Gary to Whitridge.

Gary looked to Denise and said, "Stay with Whitridge!"

Nodding, Denise hurried past him and went to Whitridge at the entrance of the cabin. Whitridge pulled her in and told her, grabbing his driver, "Stay here child."

Whitridge then went out of the bridge and started towards Serone and Gary, his driver poised, ready for action. Denise watched from the safety of the cabin as Serone broke from Gary's grasps and delivered a couple of hard blows to the side of Gary's face. He then raised his feet up and kicked Gary in the chest, sending him over the railing and to the hard wood floor below.

"Gary!" Denise screamed and instinctively went towards the cabin door to race to Gary.

Whitridge raised his driver, ready to strike Serone but Serone turned around and pointed his pistol at him. Serone hissed, "Get back into the cabin where you belong!"

"Right!" Whitridge relinquished, dropping his driver and slowly backing into the cabin.

Smirking, Serone turned to the stairs and began climbing down them. He watched Teri and Danny suddenly glance up at him with anger as they tended to Gary. The boat gave another jolt as the anaconda fought to free itself from its bondage. Serone yelled at Teri and Danny, "You guys will stay right there while I go take care of the snake. If any of you tries anything funny, I will kill the first person who comes near me!"

Danny glared at Serone, wondering if he could take on the overgrown bully. He wanted to, but Teri shook her head at him. Danny sighed heavily and took to checking Gary's pulse. As much as Danny despised him right now, he felt a certain amount of respect for Gary, seeing how he had risked his life for Denise and took a bullet for her.

From the cabin, Whitridge slowly came out and picked up his driver. He was just starting down the stairs when the crane that had been supporting the snake suddenly gave way and splashed into the water.

The cable snapped and the anaconda broke free from its captivity. The anaconda shot the boat an evil glare and watched as Serone fell over the sandbags, avoiding the cable. It disappeared underneath the waves and circled around the ship towards Paul.

Whitridge felt Denise at his side near the stairs. He watched as Denise rushed to Gary and kneel next to him, slowly reviving him. Whitridge felt an uneasy calm, watching the three and Serone laying, supposedly unconscious, on the floor.

Just then he felt the presence of another being next to him. Looking over his shoulder, Whitridge saw Anaconda hovering over his shoulder. He gave a soft yell of surprise and backed away. But Anaconda wasn't interested in him, she was interested in Serone.

Spying Serone on the coils of rope, Anaconda made her way to him, ignoring the humans on the deck. She wanted revenge for the grief he had caused her and now she would get her opportunity. Just as she was about to pounce on him, Serone suddenly shot her with a tranquilizer dart. Giving a scream, Anaconda rolled off the boat and disappeared into the water.

Danny saw this as a perfect opportunity to rush Serone. Whitridge came with Danny and the two attacked the unsuspecting Serone. Using his driver, Whitridge smacked Serone on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. Grinning slightly, Whitridge exclaimed, "Asshole in one!"

Denise gave Whitridge a small smile and helped Gary to his feet. She gently touched his cheek and let him rest his head on her shoulder. She then used her hand to stop the bleeding from Gary's bullet wound. Gazing lovingly at her lover, Denise softly crooned to him.

Teri and Danny dragged Serone to a post and tied him there. They glanced at Denise holding Gary close to her. Teri smiled slightly. She was happy that Denise had been able to salvage Gary from his mistake and had brought him back to their side.

Just then, Gary suddenly lifted his head off Denise's shoulder and spoke in a hushed voice, "I hear nothing. The jungle's gone quiet." Looking at Denise, he spoke urgently, "Get into the cabin!"

Everyone stared at Gary inquisitively. Gary turned to them and urged, "Go there! Now! The anaconda's not finished!"

Just as he finished his words, the second anaconda suddenly sprang onto the boat. It turned its head and quickly peered at each of the humans on board. It lunged at Teri but she dodged the snake and escaped into her cabin. Then the anaconda turned its aggression on Whitridge but immediately got smacked on the head by the driver. Agitatedly, the snake dodged Whitridge's swings but continued on course.

"Get up to the cabin!" Gary exclaimed and pushed Denise towards the stairs.

The snake turned from Whitridge and saw Denise stumble against the stairs. Giving an excited hiss, the snake started towards her.

Gary saw the snake suddenly take interest in Denise and called out, kicking the snake's tail, "Hey! Over here!"

The snake turned from Denise and hissed angrily at Gary. Then, quicker than it has ever done before, the anaconda quickly sprang at Gary, wrapping its coils around him and trapping him against a pole. The anaconda immediately began squeezing its prey, waiting for it to die.

Gary had felt the snake's fangs sink deep into his flesh to keep him from moving. He felt the tight squeeze and the air escaping from his lungs. Cracking sounds were heard as the snake's embrace began breaking his ribs. Through the sounds of his bones breaking, Gary could hear Denise screaming for him.

Just then, Anaconda burst from the water and gripped the smaller anaconda by the throat. The smaller anaconda gave a panicked scream, releasing its victim and disappearing into the water.

Gary had just fallen to the deck when Anaconda suddenly sank her teeth into Gary's shoulder and wound him up in her coils.

"No!" Denise screamed, rushing to Gary. She grabbed Gary's hand but Anaconda snapped at her, forcing Denise to let go. Denise continued to cry, "Please let him go! Please let him go!"

Anaconda seemed to give Denise a knowing smile and slipped into the water, dragging Gary along with her. She watched as Denise stumbled to the side screaming, "Gary! Gary! I love you!"

Gary closed his eyes and opened them again, holding his beloved love in his eyes. He worked up enough strength to yell back, "Of course you do. For always and forever." He then disappeared with Anaconda under the water.

"No!" Denise screamed, falling to her knees. She clung to the post sobbing. She felt Teri and Danny holding her back as she continued to cry, "Gary! Gary!" More tears fell as she cried out in vain, "Gary!"

Denise sat on the edge of the boat, clinging to Teri and sobbing hysterically. She couldn't believe that Gary had been holding her one moment and then the next, he was gone. She was in disbelief at the thought of Gary no longer being with her. She couldn't imagine Gary ever dying. But now, he was gone.

Danny and up and sat next to Denise, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. He said, "God is watching over Gary now. He's in heaven. A far better place than in this jungle."

"I know," Denise sobbed. "I know he's in a better place but I still wish he was here with me." She gazed into the heavens and pleaded, "God forgive Gary for his faults. You saw how kind and gentle he was to all of us. He was a good man and I know that you'll take good care of him. Just please, forgive him for his faults and let him look in on us at times."

Danny gave Denise a soft pat on the shoulder. Again Denise took to crying and hugging Teri. How could something so innocent as filming a documentary turn out so tragically?

To Be Continued...




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