Skinwalker Apocalypse

Coral snake

The forest seemed normal to Fedrick.

He drove the camper down the rolled out path and wondered for the umpteenth time if the 'mysterious' stretch of land was really all that Charles had made it out to be.

Apart from the heat from the beating sun and how long it was taking to reach their destination, it seemed to him like he was taking a drive, an incredibly slow one, in the sss.

Behind them, the hunters were walking. They had been talking amongst themselves, trying to stave off the tiredness from walking under the hot sun for so long but even that seemed to have gotten tiring because they were all walking in silence already.

Fedrick could see the weariness in their face through the side view mirrors. They should probably take a break he decided.

Fedrick slowed the vehicle down to a crawl and turned to a suitable spot under the cover of a big tree canopies before turning off the ignition.

He turned the window down and leaned out to beckon at the leader of the local hunters to come closer.

Fedrick glanced through the backseat mirror to look at Charles sleeping form. The other had fallen asleep about half an hour ago after holding a mostly one sided conversation with the blind girl during the journey.

Gamio got to him and he passed the message that they could all take a brief bathroom break before they proceed again.

"Yes, boss." The lanky man said before turning to signal his men to stop. "Go do your business, you have..." He turned to Fedrick with a questioning look.

"Ten minutes." Fedrick Boyd supplied.

"You have ten minutes, so use it wisely." Gamio hollered making all the men immediately take the opportunity to enter bushes to relief their bladders or simply found nearby trees to cool their heels.

"Fvck! It's too hot in these clothes." Elle exclaimed to Nate grabbing her leather jacket at the bottom edge of the clothes and flapped it continually to attempt cooling her warm trunk.

Nate eyed his companion from the base ball cap on her head securing her hair completely in what he could only describe as a ball of heat to her thick leather jacket with a relatively thin turtleneck sweater peeking from underneath the lapel of the jacket.

Her feet were clad in thick Blue Jeans and a stylish pair of brown boots and he could even see socks. His forehead creased in a frown as he looked back up at her. "What were you expecting dressed like its the ending of autumn?" Seriously, all she needed was a padded fur clothes and she could be on fire.

He was only dressed in jeans and a t shirt and boots only because he was not quite sure of the terrain of the land. It was summer for fvck sake.

He was beginning to regret those boots too, wishing he had worn his adidas instead because the land was pretty normal and even graded. They hadn't had to walk through the forest at all.

Elle shot him a look and answered. "Bugs obviously."

Nate was lost and his face clearly showed his confusion. "What about bugs?"

She raised her long sleeve clothing in his face. "I'm dressed for the bugs. I cannot have any of those crawlers on my skin."

"Pfft." Nate snorted. "You do not dress for bugs, especially not in the summer, you use bug spray. Having sweat running down your body and trapping all of it beneath thick clothing would only make you warm, uncomfortable ...and smelly."

Elle shrugged at him. "How was I supposed to know that. It's not like I take every opportunity I get to watch wildlife documentaries and read 'the great outdoors' or some s**t like that."

"Wildlife documentaries show wildlife."

"Yes, they don't tell you stuff like that in there." Darren who had been silently waiting for an opportunity to make direct conversation with Nate piped up taking the opportunity. "You can learn stuff like that from watching explorer channels like ShaWonder Outdoors. I watch it every week." He added for Nate's knowledge.

"Really? You do?!" Nate asked.

"Every Friday. Ten pm, I also follow your p*****n. Your videos helps me start my weekend in the right spirits." Darren said with a wide smile that Nate mirrored. It was nice to see someone who watches and enjoys his content.

"Ah! It must be nice to have your little fan meet and greet in this forest, isn't it?" Elle said watching both men with pinched eyebrows. "Not all of us can afford to pay to watch people do dangerous things for our entertainment." She gave him a look that clearly spoke of her contempt for what she called the entertainment of the rich.

"Well I knew to wear light clothes and take bug spray with me." Darren said waving the said item in her face.

Elle shrugged and turned away. She pulled her jacket off and took off the cap sending her brown hair falling in crushed waves. She then took off the turtleneck sweater having a loose underwear on.

In one smooth movement, she stole the bug spray from a distracted Darren and blasted a good amount all over her exposed trunk before he could even say a word.

"Hey, you are going to finish it." Darren said and reached for the spray. She tried to move her hand, still wanting to spray her hair with what was left in the can but his other one crashed down on her fist making her let go of the spray with a yelp.

The two exchanged glances and dove down to grab the spray first. On their knees, they both reached for it until...

Darren jerked backwards noting the red, yellow and black slinky animal just beside the can, but Elle took the can smirking triumphantly.

"It's a snake!" Darren exclaimed.

"Pfft! It's a harmless snake. I had one exactly like it." Elle said reaching for the reptile to prove her point while Darren shook his head multiple times his voice caught in his chest. That snake was totally dangerous.

The reptile seemed to look at Elle pretty calmly as her hands approached it and all at once, just before she could touch it, it slinked into the forest.

"Elle, get the hell away from there. That is a Coral snake, whatever pet you had was a Scarlet king snake. And a Coral snake is very dangerous." Nate said pulling Elle backwards immediately he saw the snake move.

Elle fell backwards on her butt.

"That snake had yellow bands on its red skin, the feature that distinguish them both. You were very lucky that the snake was not interested in you."

"There is a rhyme you said in the episode you explained that, red on black, friend of Jack. Red on yellow, kills a fellow." Darren recited having gained control over his racing heart. He took lesson about snakes pretty seriously since he had a phobia for them in general but harmful and otherwise.

Nate nodded in agreement.

Elle stood and dusted her sandy jean bottom. "Seems like you got your a faithful students. Thanks for the save anyways." She said handing the bug spray back to Darren and settling for keeping her hair under her cap again.

"You are welcome." Nate replied and helped Darren to his feet.

*////*

**In an Oak tree**

"You are back."

The new comer nodded. "He really brought his friend here to kill him...."

"Why did you not kill them?" Another interrupted. "You could have."

The other scoffed. "It would be a waste to do so, their all have delicious nightmares... It would be a waste to kill them before first torturing them."

A/N: Sorry for the inconsistency. Once I am done with my other ongoing book, I would focus in this one to complete it. Thanks for your patience.