Gary Dixon leaned against the railing of the wooden houseboat staring into the deep green waters of the Amazon river. He was part of a group of filmmakers who were making a documentary about Native Americans in the Amazon. Among the group were Terri Flores, a beautiful Latino woman who didn't take crap of anybody, Dr. Steven Cale, who was intelligent and knew how to run a group, Danny Rich, a black man who had a great sense of humor, Warren Westridge, an Englishman who was very annoying (in Gary's opinion), Mateo, who was captain of the boat, was a greasy, long haired man who always carried a gun, and Gary's girlfriend Denise Kalberg, who was pretty and couldn't stand to be away from Gary for even a second.

Gary loved Denise, but the way she was always hanging on to him and following him around really agitated him. He didn't want her to come along on this trip, but she had insisted she go. She had said that if she wasn't going to see him for more than a day she was going to kill herself. "No, we wouldn't want that," he had said with just a hint of sarcasm in his voice. So now here they were headed down the Amazon.

Denise stood next to Gary. She ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. "What's wrong?" she asked. Gary looked over at her and then at his surroundings. He had forgotten where he was for a minute. "Nothing," he replied. "I just needed some time to think." "Well, everybody was wondering where you were," she said. "So I thought I'd come check on you." He didn't say anything. He returned his attention to the water. "Well, I guess I'll go see if dinner's ready yet," Denise said as she stood up and walked away. The thought of dinner made Gary want to vomit. For the past three days he had eaten nothing but fish and he was sick of it. And he knew that's what they would be having tonight. He could already taste it. God, I wish I was at home, he thought. "Hey Gary, could you give me hand?" he heard Dr. Cale say. "Yeah, sure," Gary replied. He knew Dr. Cale wanted him to help debone the fish, which Gary hated. But he walked to the other end of the boat where the whole group was standing around watching

Dr. Cale pull fish out of the water. "Hey Gary," Dr. Cale greeted him. "Where've you been?" "Just watching the waters," Gary replied. "You need me to debone the fish?" Dr. Cale nodded. "Yeah, if you don't mind. I asked Danny but he said he'd rather chop his own dick off. Westridge said no and I knew the ladies wouldn't. So here you go." He handed several silver hatchet fish to Gary. Gary began deboning them by hand. Westridge and Danny turned their heads. Dr. Cale stood there and watched. "Oh, honey, you're so brave," Denise said. Terri watched in awe. She had secret feelings for Gary. She didn't find him all that attractive but there was just something about him that she liked. She stared at him as he threw the bloody bones in the water. "Hey, who's that?" Westridge asked. Terri snapped out of her trance. Everybody had their attention on a middle-aged man waving to them. "Help!" he cried. "My boat is sinking! Please! Help me!" Mateo steered the boat over in his direction. The man had silver-gray hair pulled in a ponytail and was carrying hunting gear. He climbed into the boat. "Oh, thank you so much," he said. "I wasn't watching where I was going and I ran into a tree. I'm all right, but my boat isn't. The wreck tore a hole in it and now it's sinking. And I sure didn't want to have to swim these disease-infested waters. Oh, by the way, my name's Paul Sarone." Dr. Cale was the first to introduce himself. Then Mateo, Westridge, Danny, Gary, Terri, and Denise. "So, what are you all doing out here?" Paul asked. "We're a group of filmmakers who are filming a documentary about the Native Americans out here," Dr. Cale replied. Paul snickered. "Well, good luck," he said. "There aren't any Native Americans around here for miles." "Do you know where they are?" Terri asked. Paul grinned cunningly. "Yeah, I know where they are. Would you like me to show you?" "That would be great!" Terri exclaimed. Dr. Cale chimed in. "I don't think that's such a good idea. We've only known you for a couple of minutes and we don't want to get caught up in something." Paul walked up to Dr. Cale. His face was just inches from Dr. Cale's. "Are you implying that I might be dangerous?" he said. Dr. Cale backed away. "No sir, that's not what I'm saying. I just don't want to get lost." "Well, we won't", Paul said. "So let's go." He moved Mateo out of the way and took control of the boat. "Need help with that?" Mateo asked Gary, who was still deboning the fish. "No, I seem to be handling it myself," Gary replied. He threw a bone that looked like the spine into the water. "Last one", he said. He looked at his hands. They were covered in blood. "I hate this shit," he said as he rinsed off his hands in the river. Dr. Cale took over. "Thanks for helping," he told Gary. Gary nodded and walked to the other end of the boat. Denise followed him. "Are you okay honey?" she asked him. "You look pale." "That's because I just had my hands in fish guts. Please Denise, just let me be for a while, okay?" He wasn't meaning to be rude, but he really wanted to be alone. Especially after deboning something he hated. Suddenly a hand touched his shoulder. "Denise I told you to leave me-" he looked up and saw Terri standing there smiling. "Oh, sorry Terri. I thought you were Denise." "It's okay," Terri said. "What's wrong with Denise? Do you not love her anymore?" Gary sighed. "Well, no, that's not it. I still love her. It's just she's been getting on my nerves here lately. She can't seem to keep her hands off me or quit following me everywhere. It's like she's got her head stuck up my ass. You know what I mean?" Terri laughed. "Yeah, I understand." Terri scanned him. His Adidas sandals, his thin white legs, his baggy denim shorts, his tropical button-up T-shirt, his crooked nose (which she strangely loved), his bright blue eyes and his blonde hair that surrounded his face just made her yearn for him. She liked Dr. Cale, but there was just something about Gary. Yeah, she knew he already had a girlfriend. But it seemed to her that he didn't even like Denise all that much. I wonder if he likes me more, Terri thought. She grinned at her thoughts. "You okay Terri?" Gary asked. She looked at him. He had a half-grin on his face. Suddenly a giant snake shot up out of the water right in front of them, its mouth open wide. Gary and Terri jumped up and screamed. The others came running. "What is it! What is it!" they yelled. The snake lunged forward but suddenly five bullets struck it and the snake disappeared beneath the water. "What the hell was that!" Danny exclaimed. "Oh Gary, are you all right?" Denise wrapped her arms around him and started planting kisses all over his face. "I'm okay honey. I'm fine. Please, stop that," he said. "That, my friends, was an anaconda," Paul Sarone informed. "Biggest snake you'll ever see. Better be glad he didn't swallow one of you because he could have very easily done so." Dr. Cale put an arm around Terri. "Are you okay?" he asked. Terri nodded. She was shaking. "Did you know there were giant snakes out here?" Westridge asked Paul. Paul was reloading his gun. "Well, yeah. I knew. But not to worry. You don't bother him and he won't bother you." Terri walked up to him. "Gary and I weren't doing anything and that damn snake just tried to attack us. Why?" Her tone of voice was angry. Paul grinned devilishly. "I guess you were just sitting too close to the edge of the boat." "Are there anymore of them?" Dr. Cale asked. "Yeah, probably," Paul replied. "But that one I just shot isn't dead." Everybody turned their heads and stared at him. "You mean it's still alive? After you shot it several times?" Westridge asked. "It takes a lot more than a bullet to kill an anaconda," Paul replied. He finished reloading his gun and started steering the boat. "How big do these snakes get?" Terri asked. "The biggest I've heard is about forty feet," Paul answered. Terri shook her head. "That's unbelievable. But I still don't understand why that snake attacked Gary and me. Snakes don't eat people." "Oh, they don't?" Paul said as he pointed to a deep ugly scar on his cheek. Terri glared at him. "You're sick," she said. Dr. Cale returned to the fish he was preparing. "It's all over," he said. "Go back to what you all were doing and let's forget all about the big scary snake."

Later that night after everyone had gone to bed (except Paul who was steering the boat) Gary returned to the spot on the boat where he always sat. He couldn't stop thinking about how he had almost died earlier. "It should've gotten Denise," he told himself. He shook his head. "No, I shouldn't think like that. She's my girlfriend. I love her and she loves me." But then he started thinking about Terri. What if the snake had gotten her? He would have never been able to forgive himself even though he knew it wouldn't have been his fault. Feeling his eyelids getting heavy, he crept downstairs and went to sleep.

The next morning Gary awoke to find Denise sitting on the bed staring at him. "Good morning Sunshine," she said. "Morning Denise," he replied. He crawled out of bed and pulled on a pair of tan shorts and a white T-shirt. He slipped on his Adidas sandals. "Everybody else awake?" he asked. "Yeah. Dr. Cale went into the water to find breakfast," she answered. They walked up on deck. Terri seemed to be arguing with Westridge and Mateo and Danny were carrying on a normal conversation. Paul Sarone was doing the steering. "He's finally up!" Denise called to everybody. Gary looked around in embarrassment. "I don't think they really care," he whispered to her. But everybody on deck waved to him. He waved back. Terri finished her argument with Westridge and walked over to Gary. "Good morning," she said. "Sleep well?" He nodded. "Somewhat. What were you and Westridge arguing about?" Terri rolled her eyes. "He thinks he knows everything. He said that anacondas don't really eat people and that Paul was just trying to scare us and I said I think Paul might be telling the truth and then he disagreed and we just got into it," she explained. Gary laughed and shook his head. "That guy really gets on my nerves. I can't believe I actually work with him." "Oh my god! There she is!" Paul Sarone suddenly exclaimed. Everybody looked up and saw the huge anaconda rising out of the water. Paul held his arms out. "Come to me baby! I've been looking for you for years! And now I've found you! Come! Come!" he cried. "Shut up!" Danny yelled as he grabbed Paul's gun and started shooting at the large reptile. But the bullets seem to make the snake even more angry. The snake swung its head down and grabbed Mateo with its huge mouth as it wrapped its body around him. The others watched in horror as it squeezed the life out of Mateo. Then the snake disappeared beneath the river. Westridge, Danny, Denise, Gary and Terri stood there in shock. They all had disgusted looks on their faces. Paul chuckled. "I guess she was hungry," he said. "What a minute! What about Dr. Cale?!" Terri asked worriedly. "He's still in the water!"

Ironically Dr. Cale's head popped up out of the water. He was a mere three feet from the boat. "HEELLPP!" he screamed. Everybody could see a huge figure swimming close behind him. "Is that the same snake?" Westridge asked. "No, this one's much smaller," Paul replied. Dr. Cale swam as fast as he could. He reached for Terri's hand. "Help me please!" he cried. The snake was just inches from him. Gary grabbed a pick axe from the box of tools. Terri was able to pull Dr. Cale out of the water. As soon as she did Gary swung the axe and it sank into the snake's head. But it did little damage to the animal. Gary swung the axe again but the snake moved and quickly swam away. "Well, I tried, " Gary said. Terri helped Dr. Cale get his wetsuit off. "Are you okay?" she asked. He sat there breathing hard. "Yeah, I think so," he replied breathlessly. "I wasn't able to get any food though." Terri laughed. "That's okay. All that matters right now is that you're safe." "Mateo's dead," Danny informed. "The other snake ate him." Dr. Cale nodded sadly. "Yeah, I didn't see him anywhere so I kinda figured that," he said.

Later that night Gary sat up in bed reading a Stephen King novel. He was getting really into the book when he heard a knock on the door. He hopped out of bed and opened the door. "Terri! What are you doing up?" he asked, totally perplexed about why she would be knocking on his door at this time of night. "Hey Gary," she said. "I-I couldn't sleep so I needed someone to talk to. And everyone else is sleeping." She noticed that Denise was not in the room with him like she usually was. "Where's Denise?" Gary looked around the room. He had forgotten that Denise had left. "Oh, she went into the kitchen to get a snack," he replied. "Well, when will she be back?" Terri asked. Gary shrugged. "I don't know. She's probably looking at the water right now or catching some air. You never can tell with her," he answered. A small grin spread across her face. Gary didn't notice it. "So can I come in?" she asked. "Oh, yeah sure. I'm sorry," he closed the door behind her. They awkwardly stood there looking in opposite directions for a moment. Finally Gary broke the silence. "Are you upset about Mateo?" he asked. "Well, of course I am. Seeing someone get eaten by a snake right in front of you is terrifying. That's one reason why I can't sleep tonight," Terri answered. Tears started forming in her eyes. Gary hated seeing a woman cry. So he held out his arms. She accepted his embrace and he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you. I was just trying to start a conversation." She let out a little laugh. "It's all right." She looked up at him and into his deep blue eyes. Her eyes moved down to his lips. They were so tempting. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly. He was a little taken aback by her actions but he just brushed it off. He placed his hands on her hips and returned her kiss. Her hands slid away from his neck down to his chest where she started unbuttoning his shirt. He backed away. "What's wrong?" Terri asked. Gary looked at her carefully. "Ar-Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked. She grinned and lifted her beige tanktop up over her head. He gulped loudly when he saw her bare chest. "I-I'll take that as a yes," he said. He grabbed her and they kissed. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and it fell to the ground.

When they were both completely naked Terri laid back on the bed. Gary crawled on top of her and pulled the covers up over them. He kissed her. His mouth moved from hers down to her neck. She ran her hands through his blonde hair and down his back. He thrust his body forward. "Ohhh!" she cried as he entered her. She felt him grin against her neck. "Oh..Ohh..OH-" Her moans were cut short by him putting a hand over her mouth. He was now looking down at her. "Shh," he whispered. "If you moan too loudly the others will hear you!". He moved his hand and kissed her lips. Her nails dug into his skin as he entered deeper into her body.

The feel of her nails hurt, but he didn't care. It actually felt kind of good to him. He stopped kissing her and looked into her eyes. She brushed the hair out of his eyes with her fingers and looked at him. "You're beautiful," he whispered. "So are you," she replied. He grinned and moved his body southward, planting kisses all down her body. Then his mouth met back up with hers. They kissed as he rolled on his back. She laid her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating wildly. "I love you Gary," she said. He was silent for a moment. "Really?" he finally asked. "Yes," she replied. "Always have." She looked at him and kissed his lips. He stroked her hair as he returned the kiss. "I love you too Terri," he said.

Suddenly the door opened and there stood Denise. The cup of coffee she was holding fell to the floor when she saw Gary and Terri. It broke into hundreds of pieces. "G-Gary? What the hell do you think you're doing!" she cried. Gary and Terri sat up in shock. "Oh shit!" Gary exclaimed. "Honey, there's a perfectly good explanation for this." Terri jumped out of bed and started putting on her clothes. "I don't want to hear it!" Denise cried. She looked at Terri. "You bitch! You came on to him, didn't you? Answer me dammit!" Terri was about to say yes when Gary chimed in. "No, Denise. It was all me. I wanted her as much as she wanted me. I'm sorry." He smiled at Terri and she smiled back. She knew he had taken the blame, even though it was her fault. She was now fully dressed and as she was walking out the door she noticed everybody was now up and crowded around, wanting to know what the loud crash was. "What the hell is going on in here?!" Dr. Cale asked. Gary was buttoning his shirt as he walked out of the room. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed everybody. "Oh, I see what's goin' on here," Danny said. "Gary and Terri been gettin' their freak on!" "Yeah, I'm not good enough for him," Denise hissed. "So he just decided to f*** Terri!" "No, that's not it," Gary said. He had an angry tone in his voice. "I needed someone to talk to and she was the only one awake. And then one thing lead to another," he tried to explain. Denise grabbed his throat and tried to strangle him. "You son-of-a-bitch! I hate you!" She knocked him to the ground. The others tried to pull her off him but she wouldn't budge. His face started to turn red as she tightened her grip. "Denise!" he choked. "I'm sorry! Please! Stop! You're killing me!" "That's what I'm trying to do!" she growled. Finally Danny was able pull her off Gary. Gary stood up and coughed. He rubbed his neck that now had a red ring around it. But Denise wasn't finished. She wiggled out of Danny's grasp. She chased after Gary as he started to run away. "Guys please!" Terri cried. "Stop this! Gary and I didn't mean to do anything! It was an accident!" "Oh, let them go," Westridge said. "When one of them gets badly hurt or killed, they'll learn." Terri glared at him. "What possessed you to sleep with Gary anyway?" Dr. Cale asked. Terri just looked at him and shook her head. She started running after Gary and Denise. Denise was still chasing Gary all over the boat, shouting profanities at him. Suddenly he tripped and fell over the railing and almost into the water. Denise grabbed his hands. Everybody could see a huge figure in the water coming right for him. "Oh no! Hurry Gary! Help me pull you up!" Denise cried. Gary tried to climb the railing but his feet kept slipping. Denise grabbed the seat of his shorts and pulled him back on the boat. Everybody cheered. But the huge figure in the water hit the boat and made it rock from side to side. This caused Denise to fall overboard and into the water. "Denise!" Gary yelled. The figure rose up out of the water. It was a giant anaconda. Denise screamed and reached for Gary's hands. He tried to pull her up but it was too late. The snake sank its fangs into Denise's shoulder and wrapped its body around her. Then it disappeared beneath the water. Gary fell back and landed on his butt. He put his head in his hands. "This is all my fault," he sobbed. "Denise would still be alive if I hadn't been so stupid". Terri kneeled down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "No," she said. "It's not your fault. It's mine. I'm the one that came into your room and started all this. The snake should've gotten me." Gary looked over at her. The look on his face was unpleasant. He stood up and went into the kitchen to get some ice for his neck. Terri noticed that there was only one barrel of fuel left. "What happened to the fuel?!" she exclaimed. "There were five barrels here!" "They rolled off into the water when the snake bumped the boat," Paul Sarone chimed in. There was no hint of concern in his voice. "Where have you been?" she asked angrily. "Did you see what just happened?" He grinned devilishly. "Oh yes. I was in the steerage room watching the whole thing. That's too bad about Denise, though. She was hot". "Where are we gonna get more fuel?" Terri asked. "Don't worry. We'll find a place," he said as he winked at her. She squinted her eyes at him. He went into the steerage room and started the boat. She entered the kitchen to find Gary sitting at the table. His head was leaned back and his eyes were closed. He was holding an icepack to his neck. "Gary?" she asked. He opened his eyes. They were red and puffy like he'd been crying. "Hi Terri," he said. "Are you okay?" she asked as she sat down next to him. "Well, my neck is killing me and my girlfriend's dead. You tell me," he replied. "I am so sorry about Denise. I didn't mean to hurt either one of you. I just wanted to know what it would be like to sleep with you," she said. She bit her lip as those words bounced off her tongue. He looked at her and grinned. "Really? So that whole 'I love you Gary' thing was just a lie?" "No! No! I really meant that!" she exclaimed. "I really do love you!" She kissed his lips. "And I really meant it when I said I loved you Terri," he said as he returned her kiss. All of a sudden the boat stopped. "What's going on?" he asked. "I'm not sure," she said. "Let's go find out." They walked up on deck. Dr. Cale, Danny, and Westridge looked around. Paul Sarone came down from steering. "We're out of fuel," he said. "But I found a place that might have some." He pointed to an old abandoned warehouse. Everybody got off the boat and entered the warehouse. "Wow," Danny said. "Where'd you find this place?" "Hey look guys! I think I found some fuel!" Dr. Cale exclaimed. He was examining three tin barrels. He unscrewed the lid to one of them and looked in. "Yeah, it's fuel," he said. "Great," Paul said. "Now let's go." "Hey where's Westridge?" Terri asked. Everyone looked around but he was nowhere in sight. Suddenly an ear-piercing scream filled the air. Terri ran out of the warehouse and looked up at the rocky waterfall. Westridge was trapped by two rocks--and the giant snake. The snake had its mouth wide open. Westridge tried to be very still but he couldn't. The snake was moving closer to him. Finally he jumped from the rocks. In mid-air the snake grabbed him and wrapped him up. Terri looked away. The rest of the crew came running out. "What happened?" They asked. "Where is he?" "The snake just got him," she replied. "He's gone." "I'm sick of this shit!" Danny yelled. "When are we gonna kill that damn thing?!" "Never!" Paul growled. He pulled his gun out of his pocket. "No one's gonna kill my snake!" Suddenly the snake crashed through the wooden ceiling. Everybody looked up and screamed. "There you are!" Paul shouted. "Look at her! Isn't she beautiful?!" The snake slithered towards him. "No! You don't want me! Them! Go to them!" he cried, pointing to Dr. Cale, Danny, Gary, and Terri. The snake seemed to ignore him. Paul's eyes filled with fright as the giant reptile crept closer to him. "What are you doing? I'm not the one you want!" He realized that the snake wasn't going to leave him alone. He turned and ran. But the snake was too quick. It wrapped Paul Sarone up and opened its mouth. The rest of the crew watched in disgust as Paul entered the snake's belly. They could see the shape of him travel through the snake's body. Everyone stood very still and didn't say a word. But Gary's foot accidentally knocked over a metal bucket. The snake jerked its head back and stared at the foursome. Realizing they had no choice, they all ran. But Danny ran over to the barrels of fuel they had found. "Danny come on!" Terri cried. "Wait!" he yelled back. He poured out one of the barrel's contents. Finding a match and a lighter in his pocket, he lit the match and dropped it. "Help me get these other barrels!" He shouted to them. He and Gary grabbed the barrels and ran out of the building just as it burst into flames. Dr. Cale and Terri followed close behind. They jumped on the boat and filled its tank up as fast as they could. Then Dr. Cale took control of the steering. Danny, Gary, and Terri sat on the boat, breathing hard. Terri and Gary had their arms wrapped around each other. "Oh, thank God we're safe!" Terri said. "It's over!" But just as she said that another giant snake appeared. Danny grabbed the pick axe and hit the snake with it nearly five times in the head. The snake fell lifelessly into the water. "Take that bitch," Danny said as he threw the pick axe down. Everybody else clapped for him.